


30-Day Soulmate AU Challenge

by Silver_Hyacinth



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: AUs, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Friendship/Love, Humor, KageHina - Freeform, M/M, One Shot Collection, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2018-11-13
Packaged: 2019-06-08 22:34:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 26,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15253536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silver_Hyacinth/pseuds/Silver_Hyacinth
Summary: A 30-day writing challenge involving soulmate AU prompts that I decided to try my hand at. This should be interesting.— Kagehina. Lots of soulmate AUs (obviously). Will most likely involve some other pairings at some point.(I actually already wrote this, but I'm still transcribing all my stories over to ao3, so please be patient ^-^)





	1. Fever of the Heart

**Author's Note:**

> This is for my 30-Day AU Challenge, which won't be updated every day considering I'm too busy for that, but it will be uploaded whenever possible until completed. Anyway, enjoy! Day's one prompt is; You share your temperature with your soulmate; they get a fever, so do you, and vice versa. Let's begin ;)

"Mommy, my head hurts." A six-year-old Hinata Shōyō pulled himself onto his parent's bed in the middle of the night on a cool April morning, muttering the words under his breath with an exhausted yawn. His mother, who was still mostly asleep, mumbled something unintelligible in response and rolled over, squinting up at her small, curly-haired son with tired brown eyes. "Hmm? What did you say, baby?"

"My head hurts," he repeated, eyes beginning to water. "I'm really hot."

His mother pushed herself to a sitting position and pulled the boy into her lap, placing a cool hand against his forehead. "Oh, Shōyō, you're burning up!" She stood up, cradling him in her arms, and hurried into the kitchen. She set Hinata down on the counter as she started searching through the cabinets for some cold medicine. "Oh dear, oh dear, where is it?"

"Mommy," Hinata whined, tears shining in his brown eyes, "it hurts. It's too hot." He was shaking from chills, and his whole body was covered in sweat. His mother paused in her frantic searching, random pill bottle still in hand, and turned to look at him. "Shōyō, did you just suddenly start feeling like this?"

The ginger nodded after a moment of hesitation. His mother sighed and shook her head, placing the bottle back in its place. "Shōyō, darling, I have something to tell you."

"What is it?" The child sniffled as she moved to stand in front of him, resting her hands on his small forearms. She smiled at him and smoothed the sweaty ginger curls back from his forehead. "You know about soulmates, right, Shō?" When the boy nodded, she continued on. "Well, this is something that can sometimes happen. Your soulmate shares the same body temperature as you, so when they get a fever, so do you. So when fevers are suddenly brought on like this, it usually means that somewhere, your soulmate is sick."

"Oh no." There was strong concern shining in Hinata's eyes as he gripped his mother's sleeve tightly. "I don't want my soulmate to be sick, Mommy. Can I help?"

His mother smiled at his sweet, innocent nature and pulled him into a hug. "Sure, baby. If you take some medicine and get lots of rest, then I'm sure your soulmate will get to feeling better very soon, okay?"

Hinata nodded enthusiastically. "Okay!" He wiggled impatiently in his mother's arms. "Hurry, Mommy, I want them to feel better as soon as possible!" His mother laughed and set him down, obediently gathering the medicine and delivering it to the impatient boy. He downed it all in one gulp, making a face at the bad taste, but managing to keep it down nonetheless.

"Now, to bed with you," his mother ordered, gently leading him back to his room. When she had tucked him safely under the covers again, she sat on the edge of his bed and brushed the hair back from his forehead. "You know, Shō, they have another name for the fevers you share with your soulmate."

The ginger looked up at her curiously. "What is it, Mommy?"

She smiled gently. "They call it a fever of the heart."

***  *  *  *  ***

"That's the  _stupidest_  thing I've ever heard," Kageyama scoffed, glaring down at his ginger-haired teammate in disbelief. "'Fever of the heart'? Who even came up with some sappy shit like that, anyway?"

"Shut up, Bakageyama." Hinata's shout was dulled slightly by the loud sneeze that followed it, causing his whole body to shake. Sniffling and wiping at his nose, he glowered right back at the tall setter. "My mom told me that, so that means it's true!"

"You're such a dumbass." Kageyama flicked him on the forehead and Hinata gave a cry of protest. "Now get in position so I can toss to you." The ginger did as instructed, grumbling under his breath and shooting irritable looks Kageyama's way. Suga and Daichi watched from the side of the gym, having overheard the entire conversation, and had taken to discussing it themselves.

"I've never heard it called that before," Suga said, frowning slightly as he pondered to himself. "'Fever of the heart'. I guess it does fit, though, in technical terms... What do  _you_  think, Daichi?"

The captain laughed nervously. "Um, well... I guess it sounds more poetic than 'soulmate fever', doesn't it?"

"Oi, dumbass, what the  _hell_  was that?!" The two were jerked out of their pleasant conversation by Kageyama's harsh yell, and turned to find the setter glaring down intimidatingly at the small spiker, who was shifting from foot to foot nervously. "That jump was half of your normal height!"

"Sorry..." Hinata murmured, which made Suga, Daichi, and even Kageyama take pause, because they all knew Hinata was one to fight back, and being this submissive, especially around Kageyama, was definitely weird. And now that Suga was looking more closely at him, the ginger  _did_  seem to be different from his normal self. His brown eyes didn't hold their usual enthusiastic sheen, and his movements were slow and clumsy; nothing like his usual bursts of quick, sporadic energy.

Kageyama studied him suspiciously. "It's fine... Just don't do it again." Seeming hesitant, he lowered back into setting position, and Hinata stepped to the back of the court in preparation for his toss. It went perfectly well; Kageyama threw the ball, Hinata ran with his usual speed, his hand aimed for the ball.

But then it all went bad. Hinata's hand missed the ball as he seemed to slump in midair, falling straight to the ground like a sack of flower. Kageyama, in an act of quick reflexes, had made to lunge forward and catch him, but his eyes seemed to go blank and he collapsed right next to Hinata.

Suga and Daichi rushed forward, shooing back the rest of the team, and rolled the boys over onto their backs, calling out their names and asking if they were alright. However, when Suga caught sight of their flushed cheeks and shaking limbs, his eyes flashed with understanding. "Oh.  _Oh_." He covered his mouth and turned wide eyes to Daichi. " _Soulmates_."

Behind them, there was a collective gasp from the gathered members, aside from the snickers that came from Tsukishima and—by association—Yamaguchi. Daichi ran a hand through his hair with a grimace. "Oh god... I have a feeling those two are  _not_  going to be very happy about this..."


	2. Following the Red Thread

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second day of my AU challenge and today's prompt is; There's a red string attached to your wrist that leads to your soulmate and it's a tradition that you go on a trip to find them on your eighteenth birthday. You just turned eighteen. Enjoy~

"Okay!" An 18-year-old Hinata Shōyō hefted his black backpack higher on his shoulder, turning back to smile at his family. "I'm ready to go!"

His 12-year-old sister, Natsu, ran up to him, tackling him in a bone-crushing hug. "Are you sure you have to go  _now_ , nii-chan?" she whined, looking up at him with teary brown eyes. "I'll miss you!" Hinata laughed and ruffled her hair. "Sorry, Natsu-chan, but I  _have_  to go. I promise I'll be back  _really_ soon, okay?"

She pouted but reluctantly released him, stepping back to stand beside their mother, who was the next to approach him. She guided him into a gentle hug, and Hinata squeezed her back, inhaling the scent of soap and mint that lingered around her from the chores she'd completed earlier that morning. "You'll be careful, won't you, Shō-chan?" she asked, pushing him back at arm's length to look at him.

Hinata smiled and nodded. "I promise I will, okaa-san. You can count on me!"

His mother embraced him once more, tightly, before releasing him and stepping back, brushing a tear from her eye. "Remember to call and text every day, and if you're ever in trouble, don't hesitate to ask for help!" she reminded him as he turned and pulled open the front door. Hinata turned and gave her a wide smile. "I will! Bye, Natsu-chan, bye, okaa-san!" He waved at them as he stepped outside. "Wish me luck!"

"Good luck, nii-chan!" Natsu hollered, bouncing up and down, hands cupped around her mouth to make a megaphone shape. His mother blew him kisses and Hinata smiled before closing the door, taking a deep breath and squaring his shoulders as he looked down the driveway at the taxi his mom had called for him, where his things were already loaded up.

Directing his gaze downwards, Hinata lifted his wrist and stared at the thick string tied there, eyes tracing it as it traveled off into the distance, becoming a blurry red line the farther it went. Taking another deep breath, he nodded once to himself and put on a bright smile before running down to the waiting taxi, ready to begin this new part of his life, where he would travel the world until he found  _them_.

As he sat in the backseat of the taxi, the driver looked back at him, raising a single eyebrow, asking an unspoken question. Hinata directed his eyes to his string once again, tracing it as it traveled towards the horizon. "North!" he proclaimed, sitting back and hugging his backpack to his chest. The driver nodded and put the car in gear, pulling out of the driveway and speeding in the direction Hinata had directed him in.

As they traveled, the string gradually grew shorter, and Hinata watched it, a small smile gracing his lips as he looked out the window at the Japanese countryside speeding by.  _Here I come, soulmate,_  he thought to himself.  _You better be ready for me._

***  *  *  *  ***

"Ah!" Hinata stood on the seat of the taxi, using the open door to hold himself up as he rested his chest on the roof of the car, staring out at the vast blue expanse of the ocean, which was tinged orange and pink with the setting sun. "It's so pretty!"

It was the third day of his expedition cross-country to find his soulmate, and so far he'd traveled through his hometown of Natori, going past Sendai, Shinogama, Higashimatsushima, and finally arriving in Ishinomaki, where he was currently observing the ocean from one of its smaller beaches. So far, he had continually been drawn in a northerly direction, so he wasn't sure if his soulmate lived at the very northernmost tip of Japan, or perhaps Russia.

It would be pretty awesome if his soulmate also lived in Japan, because they'd be able to speak the same language and would maybe have a lot more in common, but Hinata didn't really care about that; he was willing to learn a new language and travel to a new continent for his soulmate, if that's what it would take.

"Oi, kid, let's get going!" the driver—Hinata had learned his name was Ukai—called from where he was smoking a cigarette at the far end of the beach, throwing it down and snubbing out the flame with the heel of his boot. Hinata nodded and hopped back into the car, buckling himself into the seat as the driver shook the sand from his shoes before starting up the engine.

They continued heading north, and the scenery seemed to blur together the farther they went. All the way to Kitakami, through to Morioka, and over to Kazuno at the edge of Aomori Prefecture. When they reached Hirosaki, Hinata rolled down the window and poked his head out, mouth open in a wide O. " _Wowwww_!" He nearly had his entire upper half out of the window, and people were beginning to stare at him, but Hinata didn't care. "Oh, Ukai-san, Ukai-san, can we go see Hirosaki Castle?!" he asked his taxi driver with a pleading expression.

Ukai sighed loudly. "Ugh, fine. But we're only staying for ten minutes, got it?"

They arrived at Hirosaki Castle a few minutes later, and Hinata leaped out of the car and bounded towards the bridge leading to it, wearing a wide smile and laughing joyfully, his soulmate thread for once forgotten. " _Oooh_ , it's so big!" He stopped on the bridge and raced over to the railing, hanging over it and staring down at the water below, which was full of floating cherry blossom petals, letting out a bright laugh.

"Oi, you'll fall and kill yourself," Ukai scolded, pulling him backward by the collar of his blue sweatshirt. Hinata giggled and raced past him, unfazed. He'd always wanted to see Hirosaki Castle, and it was even more beautiful than he'd thought! Dozens of people were walking along the bridge beside him, and the castle up ahead was even fuller, people constantly flooding in and out, creating a stream of different colors and sounds.

Hinata followed them, losing Ukai in the crowd but not really noticing. Inside, he stared around wide-eyed at everything, still wearing a gleeful smile. "Wow wow wow  _wowwww_!" He bounced around from place to place until the whole first floor had been explored. Bounding up the stairs, he continued exploring the castle, not hearing Ukai calling for him below, too enthralled with the castle to take notice of anything else.

Eventually, he reached the top floor, and ran over to one of the windows, leaning down and peering down at the large crowd below. This was when he finally took notice of his soulmate thread. Following it with his eyes out of habit, he was momentarily confused when it led straight into the midst of the crowd. Then his brain caught up with his eyes and his heart almost stopped. " _Waaahhh_?!"

He turned and tripped in his haste to reach the stairs, throwing himself down them, right past Ukai, who whirled around with a curse and followed after him. "They're here they're here they're here _they're_   _heeereeee_!" Hinata yelled to himself, nearly bursting out crying from excitement, his nerves driven to the edge as he let out a string of bright laughter.

Reaching the first floor, he sprinted out of the castle, darting around people who looked at him strangely as he shouldered his way through the crowd, following the string. Dodging around a group of giggling girls dressed in school uniforms, he paused, panting heavily as his eyes followed the string, leading to a retreating form cutting through the crowd ahead.  _No! Don't go!_

He started running again, heartbeat pounding in his ears, feeling like his lungs would give out any second. He'd gone too far to lose them now, even if he could always find them again; his soulmate was here, right in front of him, where he hadn't even been looking. They wouldn't get away from him that easily!

Bursting through a group of suit-clad businessmen who yelled threats after him, Hinata saw them again; the flash of a pale wrist where a string was tied, attached to his very own. He started running again, and even though he knew he would reach them this time, he shouted anyway. " _WAIIITTT_!"

Right as the person turned around, Hinata jumped, ramming straight into them with all the force his tiny body could muster, bringing them both to the ground. "Oi, what the hell, you dumbass?!" Hinata pushed himself up, gasping for air, face red from lack of oxygen and eyes tearing up from the wind he'd generated from running. "Found you!" he exclaimed, lifting his wrist with a triumphant, exhausted smile to reveal the soulmate thread, which had tied itself into a bow in the center, representing that the two had been united.

He collapsed immediately after the proclamation, however, wheezing for air and squeezing his eyes shut, resting a hand on his chest. He hadn't even got a chance to look at his soulmate yet, though he couldn't bring himself to open his eyes.  _Gosh_ , he was tired...

"Hinata!" The voice was distinctly familiar; Hinata pegged it as belonging to Ukai. "Jesus Christ, kid, what the hell happened to you?!"

"He just jumped on me and fell over." This voice was different, and Hinata's brows furrowed as he heard it. Cool, with a slight undertone of shock and annoyance, but distinctly male. Hinata decided he liked the sound of it. "Is he alright?" There the tiniest bit of concern; Hinata could tell he was trying to hide it but he could still pick it up. He decided to pipe in here.

"I— fine."  _Great job, Shōyō; just_  great _. A_   _for effort._  He was still panting, trying to get his breath back. "Ran— whole way when— saw you—" He swallowed and took a few more deep breaths. "Just— tired."

Ukai grumbled something Hinata couldn't quite make out and knelt beside him, and someone grabbed his forearms, pulling him into a sitting position. "Breathe, kid." Hinata did as Ukai instructed until his heart was back at its normal pace and opened his eyes, blinking to focus on the blurry shapes in front of him. His breath was once again sucked out of him when he caught sight of the person next to Ukai, who was looking at him, brows furrowed with worry.

He was handsome; that much Hinata could tell immediately. Locks of black hair swept across his forehead in ebony waves, looking soft and imbuing Hinata with the irrationally strong urge to reach out and touch them. Blue eyes, the color of the sea on a cloudy morning, stared down at him through black lashes, and his face was sharp, but not unpleasantly so. "You're  _really_  pretty," Hinata breathed, causing the boy to blush and stare at him in embarrassed confusion. "Did you hit your head when you fell or something?"

Letting out a light laugh, Hinata shook his head, brushing off Ukai's hand so he could sit up on his own. "Sorry about the rough introduction!" He smiled wide and held out a hand to the boy in front of him. "I'm Hinata Shōyō!"

He accepted it after a moment of hesitation and gave it a quick, firm shake. "Kageyama Tobio."

"Nice to meet you, Kageyama Tobio!" Hinata flashed him a bright smile. "I guess we're soulmates!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I liked this a lot more than the first one, and I had to do a load of research on Japan and its prefectures for this. Since I wasn't sure where exactly Hinata lived in Miyagi Prefecture, I just chose Natori. And obviously, since this is an AU and all, Kageyama lives in a different place than Hinata. I chose Hirosaki for him because I thought Hirosaki Castle would be a great place for them to meet, considering it's pretty romantic in the spring. Anyways, that concludes chapter two. Remember to follow and favorite if you're enjoying the story and want more, and feel free to leave comments, corrections, and suggestions down in the review section. Until next time~ ;)


	3. Rough Slopes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Third day of my soulmate AU challenge, and today's theme is; Your body is tied with your soulmate's, so when they get hurt, so do you. Ooh, I'm excited about this one XD Anyway, enjoy everyone c:

Hinata Shōyō made a habit of never getting hurt. Ever since he was little, he'd been told that every person was born with a perfect match; someone that, once found, would spend the rest of their life with you; a soulmate. And soulmates shared sensations with one another, which meant everything they felt, so did you. This, of course, meant that if Hinata was injured, his soulmate would be, as well.

When he'd found this out, he was extremely distraught, thinking back on all the careless falls, scrapes, bruises, and papercuts he'd gotten over the years, which had apparently also been inflicted upon his soulmate. So, from then on, Hinata made the decision to  _never_  get hurt again. No cuts, bruises, scrapes, broken bones, or anything else.

Unfortunately, his soulmate didn't share this sympathetic ideal. Hinata didn't recall a single morning in his life where he hadn't woken up with some bruise or scrape somewhere on him. This was a tiny bit annoying, but Hinata tried not to let it get to him. He saw it as something that connected him to his soulmate; it made him feel like they were closer.

So he dealt with the constant injuries, wondering what in the world his soulmate was doing that gave him so many injuries. But when he took an interest in volleyball in middle school and started developing similar bruises, he was ecstatic to realize that his soulmate must've played it too; the injuries were almost identical to the ones he'd grown up with. It made him feel like they had an even deeper connection, which made him extremely happy.

Currently, he was taking a break from practicing to go on a skiing trip with his mom and younger sister, Natsu, which was a pleasant break from the constant struggle of becoming better at spiking. "Wow, nii-chan, look at how pretty it is!" Hinata scooted over to the car window and peered out beside his sister at the snowy mountain ahead. "Ooh, it  _is_  pretty, Natsu-chan!"

"Shōyō, Natsu, sit back down!" their mother ordered from the front seat, glaring at them through the rearview mirror. The two siblings giggled and did as their mother ordered, buckling their seatbelts and staring out their individual windows at the mountains beyond. "Nii-chan, we get to ski when we get there, right, right?" Natsu asked, bouncing up and down excitedly.

Hinata nodded with a smile. "Yep! Are you excited, Natsu-chan?"

"Yeah!" His sister grinned and turned to stare out the window again. "I've never been to the mountains before! Have you, nii-chan?"

"How would I have been if you haven't, silly?" Hinata bopped her nose, causing the girl to giggle. Natsu was about to say something when the reached the peak of the mountain and her eyes were drawn to the window again as she jumped up, arms tangled in the seatbelt, pressing her face to the glass. "Ooh,  _look_ , nii-chan, we're here!"

Hinata looked out his own window and his eyes widened. "Whoa!" The ski resort they were going to was up ahead, made up of a collection of cozy-looking buildings all clustered together. Snow blew past in thick flurries, and out on the ski slopes, Hinata could see several small, people-shaped blurs going down them. "Natsu Hinata,  _sit down_!" their mother scolded, and Natsu jumped back into her seat with a guilty smile.

"Now, you two  _stay sitting_. We're almost there."

***  *  *  *  ***

When the car pulled up at the resort's main building, Hinata and Natsu jumped out as soon as it stopped and ran, laughing, towards the entrance, their mother yelling at them to be careful and wait for her inside. Hinata reached the doors first and turned around to stick his tongue out at Natsu as he pushed the door open with a laugh. Unfortunately, he didn't see the person straight in front of him and ran directly into their chest, sending them both crashing to the ground in a painful heap.

"Ow..." Hinata held a hand to his sore forehead as he pushed himself to a sitting position, wincing. Across from him, the person he'd run into—a lanky boy with a mop of ebony hair and slate blue eyes grimaced as he held himself up with one arm, rubbing his forehead. They locked eyes and Hinata felt his heart skip a beat for some reason. Shaking it off, he quickly jumped to his feet and bowed several times. "I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going!"

"You never do, nii-chan," Natsu piped up behind him, and Hinata turned to give her a threatening glare before turning back to the boy in front of him, who had stood up and was still probing his red forehead. As he pressed against it, a spike of pain came to Hinata's own head, reminding him of his injury, and he winced. "Again, I'm very sorry, um..." He looked at the boy questioningly.

"Kageyama Tobio," he offered, standing to his full height, which was about eighteen centimeters taller than Hinata's 162.8. Brushing off the feeling of intimidation that crept over him, Hinata held out a hand. "I'm Hinata Shōyō. It's nice to meet you!" They shook hands, and Hinata offered Kageyama a smile. They stared at each other for several seconds until Natsu tugged on Hinata's sleeve, breaking him out of his reverie. "Nii-chan, okaa-san said to check in while she unloads the car!"

"Oh, right." Hinata turned and bowed to Kageyama once more. "Again, I'm very sorry for bumping into you! Um, see you around!" he added as an afterthought as Natsu grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the front desk. However, to his great surprise, Kageyama followed, pushing past him to stand behind the previously empty desk. "Uh, actually..." He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "I work here, so..."

"Haha!" Natsu laughed, dancing around Hinata's legs teasingly. "Nii-chan ran into someone important!"

"Natsu!" Hinata hissed, shooting her a glare. He looked back up at Kageyama, a blush tinting his cheeks. "Uh, I'm still  _really_  sorry about doing that..."

Kageyama waved a hand dismissively. "It's fine, though I can't say it happens every day..." They both laughed awkwardly. "Anyway..." Hinata smiled slightly. "Can I check in?"

"Oh, yeah." Kageyama ducked down and grabbed a key card, which he swiped in a small device attached to the computer. Tapping out something on the keyboard, he asked for Hinata's name and what room they'd reserved. Hinata supplied the information, and Kageyama typed it all into the computer before grabbing two room keys and handing them to Natsu, whose small hands were outstretched. "Thank you, Yama-san!" she said happily.

Hinata noticed Kageyama blush at the nickname as he smiled and murmured, "Don't mention it. Enjoy your stay."

Hinata and Natsu turned to head to their room, and Hinata couldn't help but look back at Kageyama, who gave him a small smile and a tiny wave. He waved back, feeling a tingly feeling in his chest, and smiled to himself as he and Natsu got on the elevator. "Nii-chan's face is all pink," the girl pointed out, causing Hinata's blush to deepen. "B-be quiet, Natsu-chan!"

***  *  *  *  ***

The next day, Natsu and Hinata were up bright and early, ready for a long day of skiing. Their mother, who was still half-asleep, mumbled for them to go on ahead without her, claiming she needed another hour of sleep, and that she'd come find them later. Hinata and Natsu quickly agreed and raced for the elevator, laughing together excitedly as they neared the first floor.

Hinata felt jittery, but not just because of the prospect of skiing. He really wanted to see Kageyama again. For some odd reason, he couldn't seem to get the boy out of his head. Which  _could_  have had something to do with the large bruise on his forehead, he supposed... But nevertheless, as soon as the siblings reached the first floor and started towards the dining room, where they would eat breakfast, Hinata found his eyes searching for the familiar blue eyes and dark hair.

He spotted him carrying a load of boxes towards the front desk. Jogging over, he grabbed one off the top with a wide smile. "Good morning, Kageyama! Let me help you with these!"

"Oh, Hinata, good morning. Thanks." They walked towards the front desk—Natsu complaining she wanted to go eat—and set the boxes down behind the counter. "What are all these boxes for, anyway?" Hinata asked, placing his hands on his hips as he surveyed them curiously. Kageyama smiled slightly as he started unloading them. "Nothing exciting, really. Just new sheets for all the rooms."

"Oh, that's cool..." Hinata placed his palms on the counter and pushed himself up and down with his heels, biting his lip. As Kageyama continued sorting through the boxes, he studied his forehead, where a bruise identical to his own had formed. He fidgeted, feeling another shock of embarrassment. "Hey, Kageyama, sorry again for running into you yesterday... I still feel bad about that."

Kageyama rolled his eyes. "Hinata, really, it's fine." He scratched at his forehead. "If you're worried about this, it's just a bruise. You have one too, you know." He pointed at Hinata's forehead and he consciously lifted a hand to cover the mark there. "Ha... I'm used to being bruised."

"Me too." Kageyama smiled as Natsu tugged on Hinata's sleeve impatiently. "You should go eat. I'll be here all day if you need anything." Hinata nodded after a moment of hesitation and waved goodbye, allowing Natsu to tug him towards the dining room. "Nii-chan, just because you have a crush doesn't mean you get to hang around the front desk all day!"

Hinata blushed. "Natsu-chan! I do  _not_  have a crush!"

His sister rolled her eyes. " _Suuurrre_ , nii-chan. Come on, let's go eat already!"

***  *  *  *  ***

Later, they hit the slopes. Hinata stuck to the kid ones so Natsu wouldn't be alone, which was boring for him, but he still thought it was fun. Luckily, Natsu made friends quickly, and before long she was off with a group of kids, allowing Hinata to sneak off. He took the ski lift to the top of one of the steeper slopes and, once dropped safely at the top, pulled on a pair of ski goggles and got into position.

Taking a deep breath, he studied the slope nervously. He'd been skiing on a class trip once before, and had been relatively good at it, so he figured he would be fine, but the trees at the edges of the course were what was worrying him a tiny bit. He'd never been particularly good at steering himself...

But he was already at the top; he would look like a baby if he went back down. Besides, there were even a few kids younger than him that were doing this. If they could do it, so could he. Hinata squared his shoulders and slid to the edge of the slope.  _Here goes..._

With another deep breath, he pushed himself off. To his great relief, all seemed to be going well. His feet were evenly aligned and he had good control and wasn't going too fast. Unfortunately, he was focusing more on his feet than the actual slope in front of him, and without noticing it, he had moved dangerously close to the edge. By the time he looked up, he was almost to the tree line and frantically swerved, attempting to get back on track, but instead, it messed up his balance, and the next thing he knew, he was flipping across the snow.

The goggles flew off his face along with his hat, gloves, and mittens, and then he slammed into something hard, hearing a crack. A sharp stab of pain came directly after it, and Hinata screamed as fire consumed his leg. He felt tears slipping from the corners of his eyes, and before he could think anything else, he blacked out from the pain.

***  *  *  *  ***

Hinata's head swam, and there was a numb feeling throughout his whole body, accompanied by a dull pain in his left leg. With a groan, he managed to blink his eyes open and found himself staring out a frosted window. Outside, night had fallen, and snow swirled in thick flurries past the glass. Hinata blinked in confusion.  _When did the sun set?_

Wincing, he moved his head and stared down at himself to find his leg wrapped in a thick cast, propped above his head on some sort of sling.  _What the..._  He winced and closed his eyes as a stab of pain spiked through his leg.  _That's right... I fell on the ski slope. I must've broken my leg._

A groan from beside him caused Hinata's eyes to flash open again, and his head whipped to the side to see—to his great surprise—none other than Kageyama Tobio in the bed beside him, his own leg in a position mimicking Hinata's.  _What the heck... Why is Kageyama here?_

Hinata pushed himself up into a sitting position against the headboard, ignoring the pain in his leg, and called out to him. "Kageyama! Hey, Kageyama!"

The boy groaned again and blinked his eyes open, squinting over at Hinata in confusion. "...Hinata? What are  _you_  doing here?" He tried to sit up and let out a small curse. Hinata winced as the pain hit him again. He stopped, staring blankly ahead as a thought crossed his mind. Very slowly, he turned to look at Kageyama, who was fluffing up the pillow behind his back with a frown. "Say, Kageyama... You don't think that we... that we could be..."

Kageyama turned to him with a raised brow. "Be what?"

"Y-you know..." Hinata didn't want to say it, instead gesturing between their legs. Kageyama's eyes followed his hand, and slowly, his eyes widened. "Wait... There's— There's no possible  _way_  that we..." He stopped, suddenly looking down at his leg with a determined look. He pressed a finger against his cast, and Hinata immediately cried out. " _OWWW_! KAGEYAMA, STOP!"

The two looked at each other as Kageyama drew his hand away, Hinata panting, eyes watering from the pain. "W-well, I guess... that answers your question," Kageyama murmured, not meeting his eyes. "Sorry for hurting you..." They lapsed into a longer silence, Hinata trying to get his breath back. "It's... it's okay. That just— that  _really_  hurt." He adjusted his position and shot Kageyama an incredulous look. "You must have nerves of steel, Kageyama."

"No... I can just keep a straight face," Kageyama muttered, crossing his arms and snuggling down in his bed. Hinata pouted and turned to stare out at the window. "You know, I figured you'd be happier, finding your soulmate and all.  _I'm_  happier..." he muttered the last bit under his breath, puffing his cheeks out in annoyance. This  _already_  wasn't going how he'd hoped...

Kageyama sighed. "I  _am_  happier..." His voice softened slightly. "Really, I am. It's just..." He let out an irritated breath. "My leg is  _really_  itchy..."

Hinata covered his mouth, but he couldn't help but let a laugh slip through. Kageyama whipped his head around to glare at him. "Oi, quit laughing at me, dumbass!  _You're_  the one that had to go and break your leg!"

"I know, I know." Hinata giggled behind his hand. "It's just... You're funny, Kageyama!"

Kageyama made an annoyed sound in the back of his throat and turned to stare at the wall, crossing his arms with a glare. "You know..." He turned his head farther away, but Hinata saw the flush creeping up his neck. "You could... call me Tobio... if you wanted."

There was a moment of silence between them before Hinata flashed him a bright smile. "Okay! If I can call you Tobio, then... you can call me Shōyō!" Kageyama nodded, and Hinata's smile widened. Now that he thought about it, maybe this was  _better_  than what he had been expecting...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super long, but I like it XD I thought a ski resort would be a good place to meet considering accidents can happen while skiing and one of them had to get injured somehow. Anyway, remember to follow and favorite if you like the story so far, and leave comments, corrections, and suggestions down in the review section! Until next time~


	4. Scars, Begone!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day four, and today's prompt is; The only way for your scars to disappear is when your soulmate kisses them goodbye.

__Hinata had a scar on his lip. It had been there since before he could remember; apparently, he'd tried to bite a stapler and ended up paying for it. But those sorts of things happened, so he wasn't really torn up about it. After all, it was a little thing; barely noticeable, really. And besides, Hinata knew that one day his soulmate would kiss it away, anyway. That was how it worked.

Ever since he was little, Hinata had been hearing at school and from his parents that everyone was born with a special someone who had the power to kiss away your scars. Hinata's own parents had told him countless stories of scars that had been kissed away by the other, to which Hinata had, at the time, made a face and broke into a fit of giggles. However, as he grew older—and developed more scars—he couldn't help but imagine finding his own soulmate one day and having a relationship like the one his parents had, made of the utmost love and devotion to one another. It was nice to think about.

Of course, as time went on, and Hinata got into volleyball, his mind moved away from the thought of soulmates, and sometimes the thought would leave his mind completely. When he entered his first tournament—and lost—the thought of soulmates was driven even further from his mind by that irritating jerk Kageyama. All Hinata could think about was training hard and creaming him in the next game they played against each other. That was all that mattered to him.

And,  _ugh_ , when he found out he and Kageyama were going to the same school, he was  _furious_! How could he beat him if they were on the same team? How could he surpass him if Kageyama could see every move he tried to make to become stronger? Suffice it to say, there were a lot of problems in the first few weeks of Hinata and Kageyama both starting school at Karasuno.

This, for example. "Hinata, you dumbass! That's the sixth ball you've missed in a row!"

Hinata turned to glower at Kageyama, brushing off his knees from where he'd fallen attempting to save the ball. "Shut up, Bakageyama. I'm just tired, that's all. Throw another. I'll get this one for sure."

"No way." Kageyama tossed the volleyball, which he'd retrieved from the floor, back into the cart with all the others. "If you're so tired you're missing more than three balls in a row, then you should rest."

"But—" Hinata tried to protest. Daichi cut him off before he could finish. "Hinata, Kageyama is right. Just go sit down and drink some water. The volleyballs won't go anywhere."

Hinata was about to protest again, but Daichi silenced him with one of Scary™ glares. Hinata grumbled to himself but reluctantly started to make his way off the court, muttering irritably to himself about stupid Daichi and stupid Kageyama and stupid volleyball.

"Hinata, look out!" The yell was sudden, and it came from Yamaguchi, who was to Hinata's left on the court. Before Hinata himself could react, Yamaguchi ran to him and pushed him out of the way in time for the spiked volleyball to sail safely past. Hinata, off balance, stumbled on his own feet, turning over in an attempt to steady himself but instead ending up stepping on his shoelace and sending himself flying. "Catch him, catch him!" Yamaguchi shouted. "RECEIVE!"

"I got it!" Kageyama and Noya yelled at the same time, running forward and running smack into Hinata and each other, sending them stumbling in different directions. Noya was saved from falling by Asahi, while Kageyama managed to direct his momentum forward as Hinata continued his descent to the floor. Kageyama made to grab his shoulders, but his heel slipped, sending him falling backward.

The world seemed to shift from slow motion to light speed, and Hinata didn't realize what had happened until he opened his eyes, which had been shut in panic, to find a startled Kageyama staring back at him, their lips locked. "AH!" Hinata jerked backward, falling off Kageyama with a squeal and backpedaling about five feet away from him, face steaming red.

Kageyama looked much the same, while the rest of the team—save for Daichi and Asahi—were losing their shit. Noya was practically  _crying_ , rolling around and repeatedly punching the floor, Suga was bent over in a fit of manic giggling, Tuskki was holding up a red-faced Yamaguchi, who was breathless from laughing so hard, and Tanaka was cackling like a psychotic witch.

"Uh—" Daichi interjected, raising his voice to be heard above the ruckus of their teammates—"not trying to make this more awkward or anything, but... Hinata, your lip." He gestured at his own face. "The scar is gone."

"What?!" Hinata pushed himself up and rushed over to the window, staring at his reflection in the mirror, practically pressing his face against the glass as he pulled his lip every which way as if the scar were simply hiding. "NO WAY!" He spun around and pointed a shaking finger at the still-stunned Kageyama in accusation. "You mean stupid Bakageyama is my  _soulmate_?!"

Kageyama pushed himself to his feet with a shaky breath. Hinata turned to glare at Daichi. "There's no way!"

Suga had collected himself enough by now to pipe in on the conversation. "Sorry, Hinata, but  _Kageyama_  was the only one who kissed you, which means he must be your soulmate. There's no other explanation." At this news both boys groaned loudly and made faces of silent suffering. Hinata finally turned to Kageyama with a pout. "Kageyama, I hope you know you'll have to kiss away all my scars now!"

Kageyama's eyebrow twitched in annoyance as a blush tinted his cheeks. "Yeah, well— same to you, dumbass!"

As the two started arguing, Suga chuckled. "Well... this is definitely going to be interesting."


	5. Eye Color and Dye Color

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day five of my soulmate AU challenge, and today's prompt is; Your eyes are your soulmate's hair color, and it changes when they dye it. Not really sure how to approach this one, but we'll see where it goes.

Hinata was born on a rainy night in June with hair the color of a marigold and eyes as black as the night sky. As he grew up, he was constantly complimented on his appearance, as people told him his dark eyes and wild hair made him look like a mischievous imp or fairy, and that with hair that dark, his soulmate must've been gorgeous.

_Soulmates_. Hinata didn't think he'd gone a single day in his entire 16 years without hearing about soulmates. It was said that every person was born with eyes the color of their soulmate's hair, which would hopefully help them locate each other one day. Hinata himself was always called lucky because most people weren't born with hair as orange as his, so he would most likely be able to locate his soulmate much easier than others that had brown or blonde hair.

Then again, the ones with plain-looking hair could always dye it. Dying your hair was what people typically did to find their soulmate, as someone with rainbow or bright red eyes was much easier to spot than someone with plain old brown or blonde.

Hinata himself had never considered dying his hair, as his mother had always told him that dying your hair damaged it, but his soulmate had tried it once; Hinata remembered waking up one Christmas with red and green eyes, which had scared the crap out of him when he looked in the mirror. He figured his soulmate must've been playing a holiday joke on him by dying his hair the festive colors, though luckily it must've been temporary dye as Hinata's eyes went back to their normal ebony color the next day.

In retaliation, he died his hair pink for Valentine's Day, thinking himself to be quite clever, smiling and laughing to himself the whole day imagining his soulmate wandering around with bright pink eyes.

It became a sort of game between them. Each time a holiday or event came up, they would dye their hair or a small section of it a color pertaining to it. It continued back and forth between them up into Hinata's late years of middle school, when he went to his first ever volleyball tournament. In celebration of this, he dyed one strip of his hair white and another red to match a volleyball.

To his surprise, his soulmate did the same, breaking the pattern of the game where they would wait one full day before washing out the dye and waiting for the next event worthy of playing again. Hinata was shocked by this but brushed it off as he had to get to the tournament on time.

When he arrived, he took a deep breath in and allowed the sporty atmosphere to leak into his very bones, feeling giddy and pumped up. This would be his first real tournament. It was so exciting! But, unfortunately, his nerves got to him when his opponents entered the gym. They were  _huge_... Like giants, almost. Hinata felt a rush of intimidation just looking at them.

Towards the back, however, he saw something that made him temporarily forgot his nerves; a flash of white and red, which passed too quickly and was swallowed up by the crowd before he could determine if it was just a figment of his imagination or not. But that didn't matter now; it was time to start the game.

Hinata and his team took the court after finishing up stretching, and Hinata, for the first time, looked at the people across the net. His breath froze like ice in his lungs as he locked gazes with a set of mismatched red and white eyes. _What..._  His eyes flicked up to the person's hair, where he found that they had died two small strips; one white, one red. Hinata unconsciously lifted a hand to his own head.  _Just like mine... Does that mean..._

Without realizing it, Hinata had stepped up to the net and grabbed it with one hand, as the person on the other side did the same, their hands brushing. A spark traveled from the tip of Hinata's finger throughout his entire body, ending at the top of his head, causing him to shiver. He could hear the refs yelling at them, but the voices were distant and unimportant.

Slowly, as Hinata watched, the color faded from the boy's eyes and they turned to a very familiar-looking shade of orange; one Hinata saw in the mirror every day. Judging on the boy's gasp, his eyes and hair had also reverted back to their original state, giving them both the instant revelation of...

" _You're my soulmate_."


	6. Your Name

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 6 of my soulmate AU challenge, and today's theme is; You won't know who your soulmate is until they speak your name. This one will probably be an AU AU, set away from the prospect of volleyball/Karasuno, just an fyi.

Shōyō was a pretty ordinary name, in Hinata's opinion. He was worried if his soulmate would like it or not. He was sure that they had some amazing, cool name, which his own would pale in comparison to, but he supposed it was his soulmate's job to love his name, and vice versa. But still.

Every time someone said his name, Hinata waited for the 'spark' you were supposed to feel. Time was supposed to stop; your senses were supposed to sharpen; the ground was supposed to shift underneath you and your breath was supposed to be sucked away. It sounded kind of scary if Hinata was being honest, but based on how everyone talked about it, it was the best thing in the world.

So he waited for it. And waited. And  _waited_. Throughout elementary and middle school, he watched his classmates and friends find their soulmates, while he was still left alone, that tingling feeling of expectation lingering in his gut. He never told anyone that he hadn't found his soulmate, but he suspected that people could tell. He probably looked sad and lacked the 'lively' look people adopted when they'd found their soulmates. (Apparently, your eyes got all shiny and you had a skip in your step or something; Hinata wasn't really clear on that subject.)

But still, he had to admit, it wasn't a very good feeling, this lingering sense of expectation, like a prickling on the back of his neck that wouldn't go away. It was growing annoying and was starting to affect him, making him short-tempered and fidgety. Which was partly why his parents had decided to take him and his little sister, Natsu, on a trip to the beach.

Hinata didn't exactly have much hope for the distraction working, but he tried not to show that he still felt that tingly feeling in his stomach, like the air around him was a rubber band about to snap. He couldn't help but wonder if it ever would.

***  *  *  *  ***

When they arrived at the beach, Natsu jumped out of the car and let out a joyful laugh, grabbing Hinata's hand and jumping up and down excitedly as she pointed around at different things with the utmost excitement. Hinata gave her a small smile and allowed the girl to drag him down towards the beach, while their parents stayed behind to unload the car.

"Nii-chan, look at!" Natsu released Hinata's hand to point at the ocean and ran ahead of him, her white sandals kicking up sand behind her. "Look how pretty the ocean is!" Hinata felt his spirits lift seeing how excited she was and smiled as she continued running towards the ocean, laughing excitedly.

"Natsu-chan, wait for me!" he called when she got too far ahead, jogging to catch up with her. The breeze off the sea filled his nose with the scent of salt, and the sun shone down brightly on the sand, making it appear golden. Natsu sprinted across the beach gleefully, every now and then stooping down to pick up a seashell or stick before moving on, Hinata following close behind.

"Nii-chan, I want to go swimming!" She bounded back to him with a bright smile, tugging on the hem of his shirt insistently. "Can we, can we? Please please  _pleeease_!"

Hinata smiled and nodded. "Sure! But let's go find where okaa-san and tou-san are and get changed first."

Natsu nodded impatiently and they walked back up the beach to find their parents, who had set up a ways back from the water. They kicked off their shoes and Hinata took off his shirt while Natsu slipped out of her coverup before running full-tilt towards the water. Hinata chased after her, their mother yelling to not run because they could slip on the sand.

"Natsu-chan, slow down!" Hinata yelled as she barreled into the surf, kicking up water and sand and laughing happily. When Hinata reached her, she splashed him, giggling as he splashed her back. "Cold water, cold water!" She ran around while Hinata chased after her, eventually scooping her up and dunking her in the water, causing her to squeal and twist out of his arms.

As she ran back up the beach, Hinata followed with a smile. This was more fun than he'd thought. It had been forever since he'd last been to the beach. Though he  _had_  forgotten to put on sunscreen, he realized with a frown, so he would have to go do that to avoid getting sunburned.

"Hey, you, watch out!"

Hinata jumped at the sudden noise—just in time to be hit face-first by a beach volleyball. He was knocked clean over and landed on his back in the sand, face stinging. "Oh, God, are you okay? Jesus Christ, Tsukishima, I  _told_  you not to spike it that hard!"

"Ow..." Hinata blinked dazedly up at the blue sky and the face that hovered above him, head spinning. Carefully, he sat up, holding a hand to his forehead with a wince. The boy who had simultaneously questioned his wellbeing and yelled at the spiker of the volleyball was staring at him, brows furrowed in concern. "Uh, sorry about that." He rested a hand on the back of his neck sheepishly, the volleyball that had nailed Hinata in the face tucked snugly under his arm.

"It's... It's okay." The longer Hinata stared at him, the more familiar this guy looked. He could remember seeing him wandering around his school before, although he didn't recall ever actually seeing him face-to-face or speaking to him before. "It doesn't even hurt that much." (That was a lie, but he didn't want to look like a baby.)

"Oh, good." The boy let out a relieved sigh, shifting his weight to his left foot as he rested a hand on his hip. "Hey, I think I've seen you around school before. I'm Kageyama Tobio. Your name's... Hinata, right? Uh..." He frowned in thought for a moment. "Hinata Shōyō, I think it was?"

Hinata's world stopped. His breath was sucked out of his chest and the world tilted, so much so that he was sure he would've fallen if he wasn't already on the ground. He could hear his heartbeat in his ears and his whole body was shaking like a leaf.  _This is it,_  he realized with sudden, terrifying clarity.  _This boy is... This boy is my..._

The boy was watching him with a raised brow from above. "Hey, are you okay?"

Realization hit him and Hinata rushed to say his name, nearly messing it up in his hurry. "KAGEYAMA TOBIO!" A huge feeling of relief hit him and he let out a shaky breath, falling back against the sand, clutching his heart with one hand while Kageyama jolted as if he'd been physically struck. He dropped the volleyball and stumbled, tripping and falling right beside Hinata.

They lay there, trying to catch their breath until the world stopped tilt-a-whirling and their heartbeats were back to normal. Kageyama was the first to make a move, shifting his head to look over at Hinata, who turned his neck to meet the boy's gaze. "So... it's, um, it's nice to meet you..."

Hinata let out a breathy laugh and covered his face with his hands. _Finally._  "Yeah."  _Finally._  "Yeah, yeah, it's  _really_  nice to meet you."  _Finally. Finally finally finally finally._   _I finally get to meet you._  He looked over at Kageyama and a laugh slipped from his lips as he smiled brightly. "I've been waiting for you, Tobio!"


	7. Growing Pains

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 7, and today's theme is; At age 15, you stop aging until you meet your soulmate so you can grow old together. Lol, this is going to be fun XD

Hinata Shōyō was  _not_  happy to stop aging at fifteen, mostly because of the fact that he also stopped  _growing_. He was already short for his age at only 157.1, and the fact that he stopped growing on his 15th birthday annoyed him to no end. People had already been teasing him about his height, and now that he was permanently stuck at a measly 157.1 centimeters, the teasing had further intensified.

They always brought his soulmate into it, too, which made him even madder.  _No way will your soulmate be content with such a shrimp,_  or,  _I bet Shōyō's soulmate won't even notice him if they ever run into each other, he's that small!_  It made Hinata want to punch something. And rest assured, it didn't get better.

Today, for example, was especially bad. Some boys had cornered him after school, stolen his bag, and dumped all his stuff on the ground, and now had him sandwiched up against a wall. One of them was pressing his face into the wall while the other twisted his arm behind his back, causing his eyes to water from the pain. "What, shorty, not gonna fight back today? Has your tiny body finally run out of strength?"

Hinata gritted his teeth as his arm was twisted farther back, causing his shoulder to feel like it was on fire. "L-let go..."

"Aw, is that all you've got?" one teased. "It's not fun if you don't put up a fight. If you're just gonna stand there and let me, maybe I should just break your arm." He twisted Hinata's arm farther back, causing him to cry out in pain as his muscles were strained to their limit.

"Hey!" Hinata gave out another cry as his arm was jerked from the bully's surprised flinch. He had started crying by then, though he'd tried not to let them notice. The person twisting his arm looked over their shoulder, and while Hinata was in too awkward a position to turn his head, he could tell by the reaction on their face that they were scared, though their grip on Hinata didn't loosen. "What do  _you_  want?"

The person who intervened walked closer, their footsteps dislodging the gravel, creating a rough scraping sound. "Why are you guys picking on this kid? He's obviously not as strong as you, so how do you expect him to fight back? It's unfair."

"What, playing hero now?" The bully's voice was full of distaste, and he twisted Hinata's arm further, causing him to whimper. "I didn't peg you as that sort, Kageyama. Why don't you scurry off and pretend you didn't see us, and we won't have any problems."

The boy—Kageyama—let out a scoff. "Shut up. Hurry up and let the kid go before you piss me off."

Hinata could hear the bully gritting his teeth, and his grip further tightened around his arm, and Hinata let out a sharp cry as he felt something pull, sending fire racing down his arm. The bully kept looking between Hinata and Kageyama, his mouth twisted into a scowl. Finally, he let go of Hinata, who crumpled to the ground, and stormed off. "Fine. We're going."

Kageyama watched them leave with his arms crossed, waiting until they had disappeared to turn to Hinata. He ran over and knelt beside him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Hinata—biting his lip to keep from screaming—shook his head, cradling his arm as tears raced down his face. "My— my arm hurts. It feels like it's on fire..."

Gently pushing his hand back, Kageyama winced when he looked at his wounded arm. "I think he may have dislocated your shoulder by twisting your arm like that. You'll have to go to the infirmary to get it popped back into place. Can you stand?"

Hinata tried, but was down within seconds, letting out a cry of pain as more tears fell from his already puffy eyes. Kageyama sighed, pushing up the sleeves of his black sweatshirt and edging closer to Hinata. "Alright, I'm going to carry you. Stay still." He carefully maneuvered Hinata into his arms, sliding one arm under his legs and the other around his shoulders.

He stood up slowly, being careful not to jostle Hinata too much, and started walking towards the school. "Why were those guys picking on you, anyway?" he asked as Hinata wiped his eyes with his uninjured arm. "I-it's because I'm s-short." He sniffed and wiped at his nose with his sleeve. "A-and I'm not very s-strong, so I c-can't fight back."

Kageyama wrinkled his nose and let out a disgusted breath. "I hate guys like that. They just feel bad about themselves, so they take it out on others. It's pathetic. I'm sorry they did that to you."

"Th-thanks." Hinata looked up at him. "Y-you're the first person to— to ever help me."

"Don't mention it." The corners of Kageyama's mouth turned up in a small smile. "I'll tell you what; I'll even kick those guys' asses for you if you want.  _That_  will make them think twice before bothering you again."

Hinata let out a breathy laugh. "I— I'd like that."

That was the moment when Hinata's life started to change.

***  *  *  *  ***

"Hey, okaa-san, come here!" Hinata shouted down the hallway, frowning at his wall. His mother arrived a second later, a laundry basket under her arm and Hinata's little sister, Natsu, clinging to her leg. "What is it?" she asked breathlessly. "Are you hurt?"

"No, but— look." Hinata pointed at his wall where he'd been recording his height throughout childhood, even past his 15th birthday (one could hope, after all). The mark labeled 'Shōyō, 15yo' was sitting at the top of the line, several others below it, detailing past birthdays. However, there was a new line, barely a full centimeter above the first. "I grew a centimeter."

"What?" His mom set down her laundry basket and squinted at the wall. "But... that's impossible. You haven't grown at all since your birthday last year!"

"I know!" Hinata bounced up and down on the balls of his feet excitedly. "Do you think this means I met my soulmate sometime in the last few weeks?! That's when I noticed I looked a little taller."

His mother frowned. "Well, I guess... But the only person you said you met recently is—" The doorbell rang, interrupting her, and Hinata ran past her to answer it, flinging the door open with a wide smile. "Kageyama! Guess what, guess what, guess what?!"

The boy in question pushed past him, tugging off his shoes. "Calm down, dumbass. What is it?"

"I grew a whole centimeter!" Hinata held his hand above his head to emphasize the point and jumped up and down. "Can you believe it?!"

"Only a dumbass like you would be excited about growing  _one_ centimeter," Kageyama muttered, placing his bag beside his shoes. "I grew three last week."

"Whoooa, really?" Hinata looked up at him, eyes shining in amazement. "Does that mean you're close to one-eighty now, Kageyama? That's so cool! I wish  _I_  was that tall!"

"Nii-chan." Natsu tugged on Hinata's sleeve, having shown up at his side, brown eyes shining with wonder. "Does this mean that Yama-san is your soulmate?"

Hinata blanched. "W-what?!" He whipped around to stare at Kageyama. "No way!" He squinted up at the boy with a suspicious look. "Kageyama, you would've told me if you were my soulmate, right?"

"H-how would  _I_  know that, you dumbass?!" Kageyama spluttered, seeming flustered all of a sudden. "You don't know who your soulmate is until you start growing!" As soon as the words had left his lips, the pieces finally seemed to click in their minds.  _Oh. Ohhhhh._  "Oh," Hinata said quietly.

He and Kageyama stared awkwardly at each other until Natsu broke the silence. "Yay! Yama-san is nii-chan's soulmate! Yama-san, does this mean you're gonna be my new big brother too? Are you and nii-chan gonna get  _married_?!" She gasped and clapped her hands happily. "I get to be the flower girl!"

Hinata and Kageyama's faces both turned beet red, causing Hinata's mother to chuckle from where she was perched in the doorway, watching the commotion. Hinata himself, meanwhile, wanted to curl up under a rock and die.

_Well, at least there's_ one _plus side to all of this..._  he thought dejectedly. _I get to keep growing._


	8. Markers and Volleyball

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 8, and today's theme is; Whatever you write/draw on your skin (including tattoos) appears on your soulmate too.

The first time Hinata drew on his arm, he was two and had somehow gotten ahold of a black marker. He could remember drawing some random squiggles—all that he was capable off artistically at that age. He was startled—and incredibly mystified—to find that new marks appeared over his own, a bright purple instead of black.

He instantly ran to show his parents, his toddler mind completely fascinated by the randomly-appearing purple. They weren't nearly as excited as he was, though, and shared an amused look before sitting him down to explain to him that the purple came from his soulmate writing on their arm, probably in response to him.

Hinata didn't completely understand the explanation at his young age, but he took it in stride and went back to playing, unperturbed. But that wasn't the last he would hear of soulmates. When he started school a few years later, his teacher sat him and all his classmates to talk to them about it. This time, Hinata understood it much better and was absolutely astonished by the fact that he could write on his arm and his soulmate would see it and could even write back to him. How cool!

Of course, immediately after school, he ran home and grabbed a purple marker and scrawled out a messy message on his arm.  _Hi! I'm Hinata Shōyō!_  He sat down cross-legged on the kitchen floor, still holding the marker, and waited patiently for a response. A few moments later, he let out a joyful squeal as words appeared under his, much neater and in red.  _Hi. I'm Kageyama Tobio._  Hinata's eyes widened and he let out an excited laugh. His soulmate was writing in Japanese, just like him! Did that mean they lived in Japan, too?

_How old are you?_  he wrote hastily, wanting to get to know as much about Kageyama as possible. He responded less than a second later, the neat black writing appearing like magic on Hinata's skin.  _Six._  Hinata hummed ecstatically as he wrote back,  _Me too! What do you like to do Kageyama? I really like running and jumping! It's so much fun and I can jump REALLY high, too!_

_I like volleyball,_  was Kageyama's response.  _It's fun._

_Wow, volleyball?! That's so cool! What about food? I love meat buns and Tamago gohan!_

They continued talking like this until Hinata's parents came into the kitchen to find his arms and legs  _completely_  covered in purple and black marker and forced him to go take a bath, after Hinata promising they could talk again when he was done, which they did. And since that day, they never  _stopped_ talking.

***  *  *  *  ***

Hinata rode his bike full-speed to his house after school and slammed through the front door with a wide smile, kicking off his shoes and making a beeline for his room. Once inside, he dumped his bag on his bed and took a seat at his desk, grabbing a blue washable marker from the pack he kept there and uncapping it.  _Tobio, did you see the Little Giant's match today! He was so cool like woosh and bwah! And we're pretty close in size, too! I think I want to play volleyball now. I bet with enough practice I could be just as good as him! Wouldn't that be cool? We could even play together all the time!_

Kageyama's response came a second later, written in his typical neat script, this time in a brown marker.  _You're oddly enthusiastic about this 'Little Giant'. If you want to be as good as him, you'll have to practice a lot, you know._

Hinata puffed out his cheeks in annoyance.  _Of course, I know that, Bakageyama! And I can do it, so don't you dare doubt me for a second! Don't you want to play with me?_

_Of course,_  he wrote back quickly.  _I would love to play volleyball with you, and I don't doubt that you can do it. But if you plan on practicing, are you going to join your school's team?_

Getting up, Hinata pushed his bag on his bed and sprawled across his mattress as he wrote back.  _I don't know if our school has a team. But if not, I can make one! I have some friends who I think would do it with me, although some of them are already on other sports teams... But if I get enough people and we work hard enough, maybe we can enter a tournament!_

_If you do, tell me,_  Kageyama wrote back. I'd love to see it. Hinata smiled happily as another line materialized on his arm.  _Maybe I'll even enroll in it, too. We still haven't met, and I'd love to do it on a court. And I'd love to see your new volleyball skills._ His grin widened even further as he pressed the marker against his arm.  _It's on! I'll tell you as soon as I'm ready. You better be ready, because I'm gonna be the new Little Giant!_

***  *  *  *  ***

When Hinata stepped foot in the gym, he let out a breath of awe, taking in a deep breath and inhaling the scent of lemon wood polish, Air Salonpas, and sweat. "Wowww!" He clenched his hands together and jumped up and down excitedly. "This place is  _amazing_!" His eyes darted around the gym, mouth open in a comical O, trying to take everything in.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Fumbling around in an outside pocket of his bag, Hinata produced a slim orange marker and scrawled out a message on his arm.  _Hey, are you here yet? I just walked in and it's amazing in here!_  Less than a second later, words slowly appeared on his arm. _I'll be there soon. My team's on the bus still._  And, a second later;  _I can't wait to see you._

Hinata smiled at his arm, writing down his response quickly, as his friends were gesturing for him to hurry it up so they could drop off their stuff and start warming up. Capping his marker, he stuck it safely in his bag before turning to his friends with a grin. "Thank you guys so much for coming with me! It means a lot!"

"Oh, shut up," Izumi murmured with an embarrassed flush. "It's the least we could do."

Before Hinata could respond, one of the first years gulped and pointed a shaking finger down the hallway. "Um, g-guys? Don't tell me  _those_  are our opponents?"

Hinata and Izumi followed his gaze, both of them stiffening as they caught sight of a group of giants coming towards them. Well, they  _looked_  like giants, they were so tall. Hinata's eyes bulged out of his head as they passed, Izumi pulling him out of the way before he could get trampled. Hinata gulped and held his hands to his stomach, turning to Izumi. "Ugh... I don't feel so well, guys..."

"Shōyō?" Hinata, surprised at the unfamiliar voice, turned to find one of the members of the opposing team—the giants—staring down at him with beautiful blue eyes. Hinata's brows furrowed as he studied his face, his eyes widening in recognition as a joyful grin spread across his face. "Tobio!" Before Kageyama or his team could react, Hinata launched himself straight at the tall boy, tackling him to the ground with a giddy laugh.

"Oi, you dumbass, you're crushing me," Kageyama complained, but Hinata could hear the laughter in his voice. He pulled back to look down at him with an overjoyed smile. "What did you expect? I'm just so  _happy_  to finally see you in person!" He hugged him again, burying his face in Kageyama's shoulder, who was actually laughing now. "Stop nuzzling me, it tickles! We have a match to prepare for, you know."

"Oh, you're right!" Hinata sprung to his feet like a jack-in-the-box, pulling Kageyama with him, still grinning like an idiot as he turned to his team. "Come on, guys, let's start practicing!" He released Kageyama's hand and pranced towards the court happily, Izumi catching up to him with a look of utter confusion on his face. "Did you know that guy, Shō-chan? He used your first name and everything."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you guys!" Hinata turned to them with a sheepish smile. "That's my soulmate, Kageyama Tobio!"

"Heh?!" The entire team looked at him in shock. Izumi blinked at him. "And he's on the giant team? We have to go  _against_  him?"

"Yep!" Hinata beamed. "I asked him to play against us, so don't worry!" His friends all looked horrified as he continued on. "I told him a long time ago that I wanted to be the next Little Giant, and he said that if I ever had a tournament, he wanted to come and play against me to see how strong I've gotten, so here we are!"

"Shō-chan," Izumi groaned loudly, "you set us up against a team of giants  _on purpose_?!"

Hinata laughed nervously. "Yes? But I didn't know they were going to be  _that_  tall... Anyway, we should practice! There's not that much time left."

Izumi sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fine. Let's go."

"Yay!" Hinata ran onto the court and grabbed a volleyball, tossing it to Izumi. "Let's do this!"

***  *  *  *  ***

As soon as they were finished warming up, the whistle was blown, and they lined up at opposite sides of the court. Before he went to stand beside his team, Kageyama ran up to the net and Hinata met him there, both grinning. "Don't think I'll go easy on you just because we're soulmates," Kageyama warned teasingly. Hinata's smile widened, his eyes narrowing challengingly. "Wouldn't dream of it."

He took a step away from the net and turned towards his friends, looking over his shoulder at Kageyama. "Just wait till you see me, Tobio!" He laughed brightly, closing his eyes with a grin that could've outshone the sun. "I can fly!"


	9. Windows to the Soul

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day nine, and today's theme is; Every year, you get a picture of your soulmate's eyes and study them so much you're sure you'll know them immediately when you see them.

They say eyes are the windows to the soul. You can tell a lot from them if you look hard enough. Hinata had always thought this to be true. His mother's eyes, his sister's, his father's, Izumi's; each set was distinctly different and told him so much about the person, he almost felt shy about meeting their gazes.

But for some reason, there was one pair of eyes he never got tired of looking into. They were the color of the sea on a cloudy morning, the perfect size and shape, and perfectly symmetrical. No matter how long or hard Hinata stared at them, he didn't get nervous or bored. In fact, he sometimes would spend hours laying on his bed, staring at them.

He got a new photo of them every year, but they never changed, except to adopt a more serious, aloof look, which Hinata found completely awesome. He imagined them as belonging to someone intense and cool, someone the complete opposite of himself.

Sometimes he wondered what his soulmate saw in  _his_  eyes. Unlike everyone else's, when Hinata looked at his own eyes in the mirror, there was  _nothing_ ; just plain pools of brown staring back at him. Maybe that was because they were  _his_ , but he couldn't help but be self-conscious about it. His soulmate's eyes were probably the most beautiful he'd ever seen, and his... they were just plain old brown; nothing special.

He thought about that a lot, when he was bored, alone, or had nothing else to think about; like now, for example. He was walking home from school, hands buried deep in his pockets, sweatshirt hood pulled up against the harsh wind that swept through the streets of Natori. He stared straight ahead at the ground, not daring to meet anyone's eyes, too consumed in his own thoughts to notice anything around him.

His mind drifted from his eyes to volleyball as he paused at a corner to cross the street. He'd been infatuated with the sport since he witnessed a match involving someone they called the Little Giant. Hinata could still remember his eyes; as black as coal and filled with fire. He shuddered just thinking about them.

They were scary, but still pretty; a bit like his soulmate's, if Hinata thought about it. Which he did, leading him to picture the familiar pair of blue eyes. He looked up at the sky as he started walking across the street. It was getting late, and the sun was beginning to set, casting a warm shadow over the buildings around him. He hummed thoughtfully.  _Pretty..._

"Hey, watch out!"

As soon as he'd heard the words, someone was crashing into him, and they went crashing to the ground, rolling to a hard stop against the stoplight on the side of the road, Hinata's breath leaving him as his back struck the pole. "You dumbass! You could've been killed!" The same voice from earlier.

Hinata opened his eyes and squinted up at a face cast in shadow, blinking slowly, head still spinning from the collision. "...What?" he murmured slowly, pushing himself to a sitting position, wincing and resting a hand on the small of his back, which would no doubt have a bruise from striking the stoplight pole.

"You almost got hit by a car!" the stranger yelled in exasperation. "Are you  _trying_  to get killed or something?!"

"Oh." Hinata blinked again and pushed himself to his feet, brushing himself off before finally turning to him. "I just wasn't where I was going. Sor—" He stopped mid-sentence as he met the boy's eyes.  _Blue_  was the first word that crossed his mind.  _Blue, like the sea on a cloudy morning._  "I know you!" Hinata blurted, right as the stranger exclaimed, " _You_!"

Hinata immediately turned away from him with a bright blush. "Oi, you dumbass, look at me!"

"No!" Hinata refused adamantly, burying his face in his hood stubbornly. "Don't look, don't look, don't look!"

"Why the hell not?!" The stranger ran around in front of him and Hinata dodged him, turning around to face the opposite direction. "Look at me, you jerk!" They continued swirling around in circles, Hinata frantically dodging him at every turn, squeezing his eyes shut.  _Don't look._

Finally, the stranger managed to catch him off guard by performing a fake-out and grabbing his wrist. Hinata kept his eyes tightly closed, burrowing his chin into his chest, refusing to look at him.  _They're not good enough. I'm not good enough. Don't look._  "Oi, listen here, you shrimpy dumbass; I've been looking for you for my whole life, so I'd  _really_  appreciate it if you'd let me look at those damn eyes of yours, got it?!"

"B-but..." Hinata's lip trembled. "Th-they're not— They're not s-special or—"

The stranger gripped his face tightly, surprising the words right out of his mouth. "Hey, listen to me." His thumbs rubbed against Hinata's cheeks, the touch oddly familiar somehow. "I've been looking at them for sixteen years, and they're beautiful. So let me see them once more."

Hinata blinked reflexively, startled by the words, and found himself staring right into those beautiful pools of blue he'd spent years studying, dreaming about, waiting to see in person. They bored into him with such intensity now that he found himself rooted to the spot. "Do.. do you mean it?" he whispered, feeling tears slip down his cheeks.

"Of course I mean it." The tears were wiped away with a gentle finger. "I wouldn't lie about your eyes." His gaze was sure and steady, with no hint of hesitation. "I mean it."

Slowly, Hinata felt his lips turn upwards in a smile as he met the boy's intense gaze fully. His words echoed in his head.  _I've been looking at them for sixteen years, and they're beautiful._  His heart soared.  _I wouldn't lie about your eyes._  Wiping his tears, Hinata smiled fully at him. "You know, I think your eyes are pretty beautiful, too!"


	10. A Game of Hot and Cold

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day ten. Today's theme is; The closer you are to your soulmate, the hotter you get, and the farther away you are, the colder you get. When your soulmate dies, you lose the ability to feel temperature.

"Hey, Shō-chan, there's a party tonight. You wanna come?"

Hinata Shōyō glanced up from his open book at his best friend Izumi with a smile. "Sure! When is it?"

"Nine, I think." Izumi sank into the desk next to Hinata's and reached into his pocket, producing a rice ball, which he took a large bite out of. "I can pick you up if you want. The party's about twenty minutes away from here and your house is in that direction, anyway."

"Okay!" Hinata agreed happily. He paused for a moment as Izumi polished off his rice ball, mouth quirking downwards in a tiny frown. "Say, Yu-kun... It's pretty hot today, huh?"

The boy glanced over at him with a raised eyebrow. "No? Not really." He shot Hinata a concerned look. "You're not sick, are you, Shō-chan? That would be the worst timing  _ever_. I heard this party's going to be the biggest one of the year. If we missed it that'd suck."

Hinata laughed softly, waving a hand dismissively. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me!"

"Well, good." Izumi stood from the desk and kicked the chair back into place, slinging his bag over his shoulder right as the bell rang. "I'm going back to my class now. See you tonight!" He waved, and Hinata returned the gesture with a smile, but it dropped from his face as soon as Izumi was gone. He slumped into the desk with a loud yawn, staring back down at his book. Truth was, he'd been really hot all day, and couldn't seem to focus on anything.

The previous night he'd tossed and turned for hours, skin sticky with sweat, blankets tossed to the side and fan on the highest setting. Nothing had been able to fix it, and Hinata had resorted to sticking his upper half in the icebox and placing cold packs under his armpits in an attempt to get cool, but even  _that_  hadn't done a thing.

_Maybe I'm just stressed,_  Hinata tried to reason with himself. _I have a huge test coming up so maybe my nerves are getting to me. Yeah, that's probably it. I'll be fine at that party tonight. I'm not sick._  He let out a breath, letting his head drop to the table, resting on the open pages of the book and closing his eyes.  _Relax. I'm sure it'll be tons of fun..._

***  *  *  *  ***

At eight, Izumi showed up in front of Hinata's house and honked the horn several times. Hinata waved goodbye to his mom and skipped out the door with the promise to be home by one. Izumi kicked the door open for him and Hinata got in the passenger seat, buckling up as his friend pulled out of the driveway.

"Who else is coming to this party, Yu-kun?"

"Oh, probably  _everyone_. The person hosting it is super popular. I heard about it from one of the senpais."

" _Ooh_ , so there will be upperclassman there?" Hinata's eyes widened a fraction at the news.

Izumi chuckled. "Yeah, but don't worry; there will be plenty of first-years there, too. I heard even that nerd Yachi Hitoka is going, and there was a rumor floating around that some new boy who just moved here is making his first social appearance. All the girls are nuts for him."

"Mmm," Hinata mumbled, not really paying attention, resting his face against the cool glass; a momentary relief from the heat, which seemed to be getting worse. He contemplated stripping and turning the AC on full, but figured that might come off as a little bit strange, so instead bored down with a sigh. Seeming to mistake this for boredom or impatience, Izumi said, "Don't worry, we're almost there."

As soon as the words had left his lips, they were pulling up in front of a large, fancy-looking house. Hinata could see flashing multicolored lights through the windows and the vibrations from the loud bass music could be felt even from their spot all the way down the driveway.

Izumi parked the car and they started walking towards the front, joining a thick crowd heading in the same direction. When they reached the doors, they were quickly swept up by the crowd and dragged inside, though by some miracle managed not to lose each other. The house was utterly packed, people standing back-to-back and shoulder-to-shoulder like sardines in a can.

Hinata was constantly being hit by some extremity, his shortness playing to his disadvantage in the hectic environment. Izumi tried his best to shelter his friend, but he was fairly small, too, and therefore didn't offer very much protection. The strugglingly two made their way through the house, past a kitchen where a keg-stand was taking place, and past a set of stairs, towards the area that seemed to be the dance floor.

"Let's find a less crowded spot!" Izumi shouted, and Hinata nodded wordlessly as they circled the mob of gyrating bodies, searching for a tame spot to settle. Hinata had to dodge several elbows and almost got stepped on three times, nearly faceplanting as he swerved to avoid getting a drink dumped on him. He'd been dragged along to his fair share of parties by Izumi, but this was by far the craziest. Hinata could barely tell person from person, they were packed so tightly together, swaying and bopping to the music.

The heat was absolutely unbearable. Hinata could feel himself sweating like a cold glass in the sun. and he was beginning to feel faint. "There's a spot!" Izumi yelled, pointing at a relatively empty corner, grabbing Hinata by the wrist and dragging him in that direction. Girls swept past them, bodies in constant motion, and Hinata felt as if the lights were spinning in his eyes. "Yu-kun, I— I don't f-feel very well..."

Izumi paused and looked back at him questioningly, eyes widening when he laid eyes on him. "Whoa, Shō-chan, are you okay? You look like hell." He rested a hand on Hinata's elbow, sending fire across his skin. Hinata shook him off, the body heat too much for him to take, and stumbled back through the crowd, head fuzzy and eyes watering. Izumi caught him as he swayed and struggled to hold him up by the armpits. "Whoa, Shō-chan!"

He dragged him through the crowd frantically, making a beeline for the kitchen. Hinata became limper and limper until Izumi was basically lugging him along like a sack of flour. When they reached the kitchen, Izumi made for the fridge, leaning Hinata against a counter. Unable to support himself, he tumbled to the ground, limbs feeling like jelly, skin wet with sweat and burning hot.

"Oh my God!" Izumi squeaked, panicking, hovering around Hinata like a distraught mother. "What do I do, Jesus, what do I do, oh God, oh God. Are you dying?" Tears welled in his eyes and he rested his hands on his head with a look of utter horror. "Oh God, my best friend is dying!"

By this point, other people had started noticing Hinata's predicament, and a small crowd had gathered around them. One petite blonde girl elbowed her way through the crowd, kneeling beside Hinata. "He's burning up," she said worriedly. "Quick, please get him some ice!" She turned to the gathered crowd and waved them back. "Don't worry, everyone, I've had some first-aid training. Please go back to the party!"

Slowly, the people blended back into the crowd with worried murmurs, the blonde girl turning back to Izumi, who had collected the ice. "Here you go, um..."

"Yachi Hitoka," the girl introduced, wrapping the ice in a towel and placing it against Hinata's neck. Izumi introduced himself and Hinata, shaking her hand.

"Yo, paramedic girl, we got another one!" someone called from another of the kitchen's entrances, surprising everyone, and Hinata weakly turned his head to see two people carrying in an unconscious dark-haired boy between them. Yachi let out a small noise of panic. "O-okay, um... Get him over here and lay him down please."

The two boys did as instructed, setting down their unconscious friend a few feet away from Hinata. His skin was burning. If he looked down he was certain it would be on fire. Unable to say anything, he started to cry, whining incessantly as his skin felt like it was going to melt right off. "Oh, goodness, they're both getting worse!" Yachi flitted from one to the other frantically, rubbing ice against their skin. "I can't cool them down!"

"Let me help!" Izumi grabbed some ice from the freezer and started helping her, rubbing a bare ice cube across Hinata's forehead. The cold seemed to burn worse than the heat, and Hinata cried harder and swatted it away with a hand. "Too— it's too hot!" he cried, gripping Izumi's sleeve desperately. Before he could respond, Yachi stopped, holding up her hands, startling the two boys who'd carried in their unconscious friend and Izumi. "HALT  _EVERYTHING_!" she yelled, eyes whipping between Hinata and the dark-haired boy.

She took deep breaths and slowly lowered her hands. "I— I think I know what's going on here. Izumi-kun, if you would, please drag Hinata-kun over here."

"O-okay..." Izumi blinked and grabbed Hinata's arm, earning a loud cry of protest as the touch seared into his skin like a hot iron. "Sorry, Shō-chan, I'm very sorry." Izumi dragged him the last few feet and dropped him on top of the unconscious boy, and suddenly, the fire went out. Hinata let out a gasp of air, panting heavily as his skin returned to its normal temperature, and he sagged against the dark-haired boy, completely limp with the relief.

"It— it stopped," Izumi said in wonder, looking to Yachi for an explanation. The girl sagged against the counter with a relieved sigh. "Oh, thank goodness. I was terrified for a moment there." She straightened once more and brushed herself off carefully. "These two are soulmates." She waved a finger between the two boys stacked on top of each other, Hinata having fainted as well. "I've seen the symptoms before. The only way to cool them is to have them as close as possible. If we leave them like this for a while, they should wake up soon." She frowned slightly. "Although... perhaps we should move them to a safer spot than the kitchen."

Izumi shook his head in disbelief. "You're right, but this is...  _crazy_." He sighed and placed his hands on his hips. " _Of course_  Shō-chan would find his soulmate before me..." He kicked the kitchen tiles dejectedly. "Man, this blows." He sighed again. "Oh well. Let's move them."

***  *  *  *  ***

Hinata woke, and for a moment was unsure where he was. But there was one thing that had changed; there was no more heat. He was the perfect temperature. The coolness felt amazing, and for a moment he just lay there, basking in the relief of it. Then his memory came flooding back, and his eyes flew open.

The first thing he saw was an arm slung over his torso and he stiffened with an audible squeak of terror.  _Oh_ God _what happened where am I who is this what happened last night did I get drunk and sleep with someone oh no but wait I would never do that Yu-kun would never let that happen but who is this then oh God._

His tensed-up position woke whoever was draped over him and they immediately let out a scream and fell backward off the bed, dragging Hinata—who was tangled in the blankets—with them. They scrambled away from each other, breathing heavily, and Hinata turned wide eyes upwards to meet a cool blue gaze. "Who are you?!" they yelled at the same time, pointing accusingly at each other.

Hinata sprang to his feet and held up his fists. "You pervert! What were you doing sleeping with me?!" His eyes widened and he gasped. "Hey, wait a minute, I know you! You're the guy that fainted last night!"

"Actually, you both did."

"AHH!" Both boys whipped around to find a small blonde sitting calmly in a chair by the doorway, watching them.

"W-wh-wh-who the heck are you?!" Hinata stammered. " _What on Earth is going on_?!"

"Calm down," the girl soothed, raising her hands in a placating manner. "You may not remember, but we met last night. Both of you fainted at the party from being overheated and, well..." She scratched her cheek nervously, a blush creeping up her neck. "I'm not exactly sure how to tell you this, but, um... you two are soulmates."

There was a moment of silence; of quiet processing, and then: " _HEH_?!"


	11. Cats Really Suck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day eleven, and today's theme is; Each person has a spirit animal that can lead them to their soulmate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day eleven, and today's theme is; Each person has a spirit animal that can lead them to their soulmate.

"Kenma, don't you want the catnip?" Hinata waved the ball of aforementioned cat bait back and forth in front of the spotted black and gold cat in front of him, frowning in annoyance. The stupid cat had been under this house for the past thirty minutes, and no matter what Hinata tried to get him out, nothing worked. He knew the animal couldn't stay under there forever, considering it was his spirit animal and was forced to be no more than a few feet away from him at all times, but still, how long did the damn thing plan to stay under there?

"Kenmaaaa, come on!" he whined, sitting back on his heels and waving the catnip in front of the cat's nose insistently. "Yummy,  _yummy_  catnip. Don't you want it, boy?"

The cat ignored him, sitting back and scratching at its left ear, studying him with intelligent amber eyes. Hinata let out a loud, exasperated groan and fell back on his side in the dirt, tossing the catnip to the side. They'd been walking to the park on a sunny summer morning when all of a sudden, Kenma's ears perked up, and he sprinted under the porch of a nearby house with no warning. Luckily, Hinata had had some catnip on him—the stupid cat made a habit of misbehaving, so he tended to carry it with him everywhere—but even  _that_  hadn't worked this time.

Rolling onto his back, Hinata stared up at the sun with a miserable expression. "Kenmmaaa,  _pleeeaassssse_ ," he begged, closing his eyes and scrunching his face up with an annoyed sigh. "It's hot and I want to go home already." He opened one eye to shoot a traitorous look at the lounging cat. "I bet  _you're_  nice and comfy there in the shade, you little jerk."

He pushed himself, propping his elbow on one knee and watching Kenma with a glare. "When I get my hands on you, you're gonna get it, you little—" Without warning, something swooped down from above and dive-bombed Hinata's head. He screeched and covered his arms as it flapped around him, cawing. "What the heck! A bird?!"

Hinata pushed himself to his feet, backing against a wall and swatting at the bird, who kept swooping down at him with its claws. His owner's danger seemed to finally drive Kenma into action, and he leaped out from under the house and skittered up Hinata's arm to rest on his shoulder, hissing, and swatted at the bird. Hinata watched the thing flutter around, panting, wincing as he noticed that his hands and face were covered in small cuts from the bird's beak and claws. Where had it come from, anyway?

He gave a small cry as the bird—a crow, Hinata thought—dove again, though Kenma managed to scare it off once again. But the bird didn't seem to be giving up and continued circling them like a vulture, dark eyes studying them with a scary level of intelligence. Right as it was diving again and Hinata was covering his face to avoid further damage, a voice called out of nowhere: "Oi, you stupid bird, what the  _hell_  are you doing?!"

Hinata's head whipped around to see a tall dark-haired boy standing a few feet away. As he watched, the boy held out an arm, and the crow flew to it, landing on the crook of his elbow with a caw. The boy looked up at him, and Hinata flinched away from his dark blue gaze, a feeling of intimidation creeping over him. He pushed himself away from the wall, Kenma still on his shoulder, as the boy moved closer. "Sorry about that. I don't know what got into him. He's never done anything like that before."

"It's okay." Hinata winced, holding up a hand to see blood sliding down between his ring and middle finger. "Ow..."

"Oh, he clawed you?" The boy shot a glare at the bird, boxing it on the back and earning a caw of protest and a fluttering of wings in return. "You stupid piece of poultry. Worst spirit animal ever." Shaking the crow off, which retreated to the low-hanging branch of a nearby tree, he reached into his pocket, searching for something. Hinata watched as he produced a bandage, ripping it open and grabbing Hinata's hand, spreading his finger apart gently.

"Here." He spread the bandage carefully across the cut, pressing it down at both ends and pulling away, crumpling up the wrapper and sticking it back in his pocket. "Sorry that he did that to you. Dumb bird's got anger issues today, I guess."

"It's fine," Hinata said with a light laugh. "My cat's the same way, for some reason. Thanks for the band-aid!" He pressed the corners of the bandage down with a smile as Kenma nuzzled him under the chin, causing him to laugh and nudge him away. The cat jumped to the ground and looked up at the boy curiously, prowling over to him on light feet and rubbing up against his legs.

The boy bent down to pet him, glancing up at Hinata. "I'm Kageyama Tobio, by the way. And that nuisance of a crow over there is Kuroo."

"I'm Hinata Shōyō, and that's Kenma. Nice to meet you!" Hinata knelt beside Kageyama, stroking Kenma behind the ears, and glanced up at Kageyama with a smile. "So why  _did_  your bird attack me? Do I look like a stray french fry or something?"

Kageyama laughed, scratching a purring Kenma under the chin. "No. I don't know why he did that. Maybe he likes you or something."

"That's certainly an odd way to show it," Hinata chuckled. He and Kageyama stared at each for a moment, smiling. Eventually, Kageyama pushed himself to a standing position, adjusting a bag that was draped over his shoulder.

"I should probably get going. Kuroo!" At his name, the crow took off from the branch to seat himself on Kageyama's left shoulder. "I'll see you around, Hinata," Kageyama said with a wave.

Hinata beamed. "Okay! Bye!" He waved, intending to turn around, but Kenma sprinted past him, taking a flying leap and landing on Kageyama's back, clawing his way into the boy's bag and burrowing deep inside it. Kageyama raised an arm to look down at the cat with a raised eyebrow as Hinata blushed.

"Kenma! Get out of there!" He ran to Kageyama's side and glared at the cat scoldingly. "I mean it, Kenma! Get out of there  _right now_!"

The ginger let out a frustrated growl as the cat ignored him, burrowing deeper into the bowels of the bag with a contented purr. "I'm sorry about this, Kageyama! He's being  _really_  bad today for some reason."

Kageyama waved a hand dismissively. "It's fine. After all, earlier, Kuroo did the same—" Suddenly, the bird, as if spurred into action by his name, took flight, circling Hinata and landing on top of his head.

He let out a panicked squeak. "U-uh, K-K-Kageyama? H-he's on— he's on my h-h-head. What— What do I do?"

"Kuroo, what the  _hell's_  gotten into you today?! What is it about  _him_  that—" Kageyama paused. His eyes slowly shifted from Kuroo—who was still perched on a terrified Hinata's head—down to Kenma, who was looking up at him with narrowed amber eyes, buried happily in his bag, and finally at Hinata himself, who was sweating nervously, brown eyes pointed upwards, as if trying to catch a glimpse of the crow making a nest out of his hair.

"Oi, Hinata." He glanced up at him sharply, eyes narrowed in determination. "I know we just met, but come home with me, okay?"

Hinata blinked. "Um... what?" Before he could comprehend what was happening, Kageyama had scooped him up under his arm and started towing him down the street like a stuffed animal. "Ah, dude, what the heck?! Put me  _dooowwwwn_! Kenma, help!"

Kenma opened one amber eye to blink up at Hinata before closing it again and settling back down into Kageyama's bag. "AHHH, KENMA, YOU WORTHLESS FELINE! Kageyammmmaaaa, you nutcase, put me  _down_!" Hinata's protests slowly grew quieter and quieter until he was left pouting silently. "This  _sucks_. Kidnapped and attacked by a crow in the same day? Kenma, you're the worst cat  _ever_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kinda want to do a continuation tbh lol. It was sooo fun to write, especially Kageyama scooping Hinata up like a sack of flour and just walking off with him at the end, no questions asked :p (That boy knows what's up lmao.) 
> 
> Anyway, hope you guys liked this chapter! It was probably my favorite one to write so far/


	12. From Me to You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 12, and today's theme is; You can send your soulmate one item a year, and you always try to send an item that will give them a clue of who/where you are, like pictures and yearbooks, etc. (Just an FYI, I realized I wrote all of these from Hinata's perspective so I decided to break it up and do more from Kageyama's. Just thought I'd let you guys know.)

Hinata ran home so fast, he nearly tripped at least fifty times, but it didn't matter. Today was March 14th, which meant that he needed to be home as soon as possible. He'd already picked out what he was sending this year; it was something he was completely sure would clue his soulmate in on his location. He'd tried countless times to tell them, but obviously, they hadn't picked up on it, considering they  _still_  hadn't shown up.

Hinata figured his soulmate must've been a pretty introverted person, considering he'd sent countless pictures of himself to them over the years, and yet, his soulmate had never sent one in return, so he had no clue what they looked like, which of course irked him to no end. But this year everything would change. He'd found a way to cheat the system, and he was sure it would work this time.

It was ingenious, really, and he wasn't just saying that. There were certain rules in place—stupid rules, in Hinata's opinion—that dictated what you could and couldn't send to your soulmate. No sending addresses, phone numbers, of letters with either of those things included. Which was just ridiculous. If you were supposed to end up finding your soulmate, why were there these stupid rules blocking every easy way for that to happen? It was just plain stupid. But Hinata had found a way to get past that.

Sure, he may have gone over the top a little bit, but he'd asked Tsukishima for help, and God only knew that when  _he_  was involved, everything had to  _perfect_. Nevertheless, this plan was sure to work. It was absolutely perfect; maybe even faultless. Everything was constructed so meticulously that there was no way they could see through it.

Hinata was sure this time: His soulmate would find him after this.

***  *  *  *  ***

The hands on the clock seemed to move too slowly as Hinata waited, hands clasped together in his lap, breathing uneven. He stared at his phone as if trying to set it on fire with his mind, sweat breaking out on his forehead from the high amount of concentration he was using. He completely believed that if he stared at it long enough and wished hard enough, it would ring.

His number. They had his number now if the plan had worked. They would call, wouldn't they? Any time now, the phone would ring, and it would be them. Hinata was so excited he could barely stand it.

"NIIII-CHAN!" The yell from down the hallway made Hinata scream and jump so high he nearly slipped right off his bed when he came back down. He immediately jumped to his feet and raced through the door, bursting into the kitchen to find his little sister Natsu sitting in the middle of the floor, a chunk of her hair in her left hand, a pair of scissors in the other. "Ahhhhhhhhh!" He clasped his head between his hands and stared at her in horror. "NATSU-CHAN WHAT THE HECK DID YOU DO?!"

"I accidently cut my hair." Natsu dropped the scissors on the floor as Hinata sprinted to her and held the chunk of hair up to him, eyes watering. "Please fix it, nii-chan!"

Hinata hovered around her, hands raised uselessly, stammering uncontrollably as he looked down at his crying sister. "Natsu-chan, don't cry! Nii-chan will fix it!" He watched her with a panicked expression. What to do, what to do, what to do... Aha! Reaching down, Hinata undid Natsu's remaining pigtail and swept all her hair to the back before retying it. "There, Natsu-chan! It's even now, see?" He grabbed a mirror from the coffee table and held it up for her to see.

"Ooh, I like it!" The girl giggled happily and hugged Hinata's legs before running off down the hallway. "Thanks, nii-chan!"

"Don't do that ever again!" Hinata called after her weakly, bending down to pick up the scissors. He set the scissors safely on the counter and slunk back to his room with an exhausted sigh, collapsing face-first on his bed. "That was scary. I think my life was shortened by a couple of years..."

Pushing himself up with his elbows, he reached for his phone and turned it over. His eyes widened noticing he had a missed call and he fumbled to unlock the screen and call them back. He held the phone to his ear, holding his breath in equal parts apprehension and excitement.

After a couple of rings, the line clicked, and a cool voice asked, "Hello?"

"Hello!" Hinata said enthusiastically, covering his mouth after he realized he was yelling. "Um, it's me, Hinata! Shōyō!" he added as an afterthought, biting his tongue to keep from laughing.

There was a pause on the other end; an exasperated exhale. "Oh, so it really is you." There was the sound of shuffling. "Well, thanks for your number, dumbass. Way to cheat the system, I guess."

Hinata grinned: He'd recognize that personality anywhere. God only knew he'd received enough sarcastic letters written in the same tone. "Nice to talk to you too, Kageyama! Hey, since you have my number, you better save it."

Another sigh. "I already did, you idiot."

"Stop calling me mean names, Bakageyama!" Hinata puffed out his cheeks in annoyance. "Hey, I'm gonna give you my address, so grab a pen. I want to punch you in the face in person."

"I've got one ready," was Kageyama's chill reply, but Hinata could hear the smile hidden in his voice. "I'd be happy to punch you right back."


	13. Fly Away Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 13, and today's theme is; If you make a paper airplane and send it flying, it will always reach your soulmate. You can write messages on it and include/draw pictures, etc, and even try to follow it.

Hinata stared out the window, resting his chin in his hand as he watched rain stream down the windows in an endless river. How long would it rain for? He couldn't send any airplanes while it was raining, not to mention there was nowhere to practice volleyball, and nothing fun to do inside.

Mouth turning downwards in a tiny frown, Hinata huffed and turned his attention back to the front of the room, where his teacher was scribbling something on the board, droning on about some historical event Hinata could care less about. In the front row, he could see his friend Izumi studiously taking notes, and made a mental note to ask him to copy them later. There was no way he could pay attention today. Rain always made his head fuzzy and his concentration weak.

With a sigh of boredom, he tapped his pencil eraser against the desk, looking down at the note that sat on it, already folded into a perfect paper airplane, with little butterflies drawn on the wings. He'd had it made and sitting on his desk for about four hours, but the rain still had yet to let up, so he hadn't gotten the chance to send it yet. If he looked around, he could see that several others had done the same as him, paper airplanes sitting on the edges of their desks, waiting for the storm to stop to be sent off.

Sure, he could send the airplane through the rain. It would still find his soulmate, no matter what. But it was pointless. By the time it reached them, it would be a soggy mess, ink smeared across the wet paper, words unintelligible. Hinata clicked his tongue in annoyance. Rainy days were always irritating.

After the school day ended, Hinata started walking towards the bike racks, hood pulled up and hands stuffed in his pockets to protect him from the merciless rain, which still poured down heavily, like a dam had split wide open in the sky, dumping all of its water down on them. Hinata glanced up from under his hood and sighed. "Aw, man, it just keeps coming!"

"Shō-chan!"

"Huh?" Hinata turned right as Izumi came to a stop in front of him, panting. "Shō-chan... wait... for me." He pulled up the hood of his raincoat and straightened with a smile. "I'm going this way today so I thought I'd walk with you. You didn't forget that airplane you made earlier, did you?"

"Em..." Hinata dug around in his bag, face quickly morphing into a panicked expression. "What?! I can't believe I forgot it! You go on ahead, Izumi-kun!" He waved his friend away and started sprinting back towards the school building, trying not to slip in the rain. "How could I forget it? I hope they didn't lock the classroom already..." He rounded a corner and kicked his way up the stairs, nearly tripping in his hurry, shaking the rain from his clothes. "Oh no... What if they threw it away?!"

He made it to the room and skidded to a stop, gasping for air. "Oh, thank goodness!" He sagged in relief seeing that the classroom door was still open, even though the room itself was empty. Carefully, he stepped past the threshold and jogged over to his desk, smiling in relief when he saw that the airplane was still there.

Reaching out, he closed his fingers around the paper and plucked it off the desk, smiling down at the decorated wings. "What a relief... It was still here." He paused with the airplane pinched between his thumb and forefinger, blinking out the window, startled. "What..."

Slowly, he made his way around the desk and pushed the window open, squinting out into the sunshine with a confused frown. "That's weird... It was just pouring a few seconds ago, wasn't it?" Outside, raindrops dripped off leaves, and birds floated lazily in the sky, which was a clear blue and held no sign of the previous storm. "How strange..." Hinata trailed off, staring out at the horizon.

"Huh. Well, I guess I can send this now." He pushed open the window further and leaned out, readying the paper airplane for flight, pinching it between his thumb and forefinger and cocking back his arm. "Alright, here we go!" With all his strength, he launched it forwards, watching with a light laugh as the paper structure cut straight through the air like a bird.

"Fly away home!" He yelled after it with a wide smile. "Go find Kageyama!"


	14. King Mood Swing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 14, and today's theme is; Everyone is born with a bracelet on their left wrist that changes color depending on their soulmate's mood and can even flash words sometimes.

For his entire life, Hinata's soulmate had had a tiny little problem with mood swings. One moment, the bracelet around his left wrist would be the calm blue color of concentration, and the next, a fierce angry red or furious black. It kind of scared him at times, when he would be focused on other things, like eating cake or studying, and suddenly his wrist would just flash a spontaneous color, even if it had been consistently the same for the entire day. It was a bit worrying, to be honest.

At one point, the constantly changing colors grew so annoying, Hinata vowed that when he and his soulmate met and got married, he would make their wedding cake red and black out of spite. Or perhaps yellow, which was another color frequently featured on his wrist; the lemon yellow of annoyance and frustration.

Hinata was pretty sure his own color was most often either the bright orange of excitement or the cool purple of happiness. And in his opinion, he didn't deserve a bracelet with such an ugly color spectrum. _And so_  he made it his goal to meet his soulmate and cheer them up because  _seriously_ , they needed it.

Of course, that might take a little bit of time. He was constantly watching his wrist at all hours of the day, no matter where he was, because his bracelet would supposedly flash gold when he was near his soulmate; the only hint it would ever give him as to their identity.

Now, while he was in class, reading a page from his history book, the bracelet was a dull gray; the color of boredom. His might have been the same. He hated history, and reading like this was completely boring. But when he turned a page, he saw the bracelet's color flicker before changing to the dark evergreen shade of apprehension. A small frown crossed his face. _Apprehension? Maybe they have a test today...?_

He shrugged and turned back to his book. It was about some guy who made a ton of mistakes and eventually got assassinated; a pretty common theme in history. Also pretty boring. What page were they supposed to read to again? 262?

"Excuse me, class, can I please have everyone's attention!"

Hinata jerked in his seat, startled out of his own thoughts, and quickly looked to the front of the room, where his teacher stood with her hands collapsed behind her back, wearing a pleasant smile. "Everyone, we have a new student joining us today." She turned, and Hinata's eyes followed to see a tall dark-haired boy standing next to her, wearing a stoic expression. "This is Kageyama Tobio. Please welcome him!"

She turned back around and scanned the room, eyes landing on a spot directly beside Hinata. He gulped. "Ah! There's an open desk next to Hinata-kun. Please take a seat."

The boy seemed to shrug himself into motion, striding over to the desk and collapsing into it, ignoring the curious stares of the class. Hinata eyed him warily. A flash of color caught his eye, and he turned his head to glance down at his wrist. "HEH?!" He sprung out of his seat so quick, his chair was knocked backward as he stared down at his bracelet in shock. _Gold._

"Hinata-kun, what on earth has gotten into you?!" His teacher shot him a disapproving look. "Please sit back—"

"AH!" Kageyama too shot out of his seat, staring at his wrist with an expression completely parallel to the stoic one he'd worn before; utter surprise. "What the hell?!"

"Both of you, please sit down!" the teacher shouted, but her voice was faltering, unsure of what was going on. "Please, um..."

Hinata ignored her, eyes trained intently on his wrist, body trembling from shock, blood rushing through him and heartbeat pounding in his ears. As he watched, the gold was mixed with a bright neon pink that showed surprise, tinged with bits of light turquoise for embarrassment. His gaze shot over to Kageyama's wrist. Gold. Gold gold gold. It's gold.

"Mood Swing!" Hinata shouted, pointing a shaking finger at him in accusation, voice trembling. Kageyama scowled, and Hinata's bracelet flashed yellow and red. "Eh? Who're you calling 'Mood Swing', you dumbass?!"

Flinching, Hinata quickly recovered and glared back at him, balling his fists angrily. "Don't call me dumbass, you jerk!" He straightened, placing his hands on his hips as he shot a determined look at a still fuming Kageyama. "You know, I swore to make you happy, so you better stop being so mean!"

"Eh..." their teacher piped up nervously, flinching as both boys turned to glare at her, "not to interrupt, but maybe you two should go talk this out privately...?" Her eyes turned to encompass the entirety of the class, which were all staring at them, and Kageyama flushed while Hinata shifted on his feet nervously.

"Fine," Kageyama said with a scowl. He turned on his heel and stalked out of the room, followed after a moment by a very hesitant Hinata. As soon as they were out of earshot of the classroom, Kageyama whirled on him with such a harsh glare, Hinata flinched and took a step back, hands raised defensively. "Y-you wanna fight?"

Kageyama ignored him, taking a step closer, causing Hinata to stumble back as he jabbed a finger into his chest. "I can't believe a dumbass like  _you_  is my soulmate!"

"Well... right back at you!" Hinata yelled, amber eyes flashing with anger and frustration. Who did this guy think he was?! Was someone as rude as this really the person he was destined to be with? Was this some kind of joke? Hinata felt a sting in his eyes and furiously wiped at them. "I— I already knew you were a jerk, anyway." He turned around, clenching his fists as he tried to fight back the tears. "I'm going back to class."

" _Tch_. Wait, I didn't mean it like that." Hinata ignored him. "Oi, you dumbass, I'm talking to you." A hand closed around his wrist, and the action startled Hinata so much that the tears he'd been holding back finally slipped free. He stared up into a pair of intense blue eyes, unable to speak. Kageyama took the opportunity. "I was just surprised, alright? Don't cry." He looked away but didn't release his wrist, though the grip loosened. "I'm sorry."

_He's... apologizing?_  Hinata was aware that he was still crying, but he wasn't really sad or mad anymore. Why wouldn't the tears stop coming? This wasn't anything like he'd expected or wanted, though he should've seen this coming. He knew his soulmate was going to be a piece of work, didn't he? But he'd sworn to make them happy; it didn't matter who they were...

Kageyama looked concerned and slightly overwhelmed. "Hey, why are you still crying? I really am sorry." He clicked his tongue and used his sleeve to wipe at Hinata's cheeks. "Your face is a mess. You can't go back like this."

"I-I'm fine," Hinata protested, blushing as Kageyama scrubbed his face with his jacket sleeve. "You don't have to do that... I'm not a kid, you know..."

"Could've fooled me. Now stop squirming." His face remained neutral as he continued cleaning him up, and Hinata stilled, glancing away from him, a flush creeping up his neck as he sniffled. This was a completely different Kageyama than the one he'd seen just moments earlier. How could he switch from being mean to gentle so quickly?  _Oh, right... Mood swings._  The thought made Hinata giggle, earning an annoyed look from Kageyama. "Oi, what're you laughing for?"

"Haha, sorry!" Hinata beamed as Kageyama cleared the last remaining vestiges of tears from his face. "I just thought of something funny, that's all!" He opened his eyes to glance up at Kageyama, who had pulled away and was adjusting his jacket sleeves. "Y'know, you're not so bad after all, Kageyama!" He grinned widely. "And I'm gonna make you  _so_  happy, you won't be able to stand it!"


	15. Picture Perfect

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 15, and today's theme is; You get a locket when you're born that has a picture of your soulmate in it, but it will only open when you turn 16.

As the minute hand moved, eleven chimes rang through the house, causing Hinata to jump where he was seated at his kitchen table, eating a slice of ( _delicious_ ) chocolate cake. "Oh! It's almost time!" He set down his fork and wiped at his mouth, smearing frosting across the back of his hand. He picked up his phone and stared at the number at the top of the screen; 11:01 PM. Only 13 more minutes to go until his birthday.

Pushing back his chair, Hinata downed the last of his milk and neatly placed all the dishes in the sink before padding over to the living room on socked feet and flopping down on the carpet, leaning his back against the couch and extracting the locket from underneath his shirt. He ran a finger gently across its smooth, faultless golden surface. "Not long now..."

Excitement coursed through his veins, the undertone to it all; apprehension. What did they look like? After sixteen years of wondering that, the question would finally be answered. Hinata had to admit, he was scared; terrified, even. What if it was someone he knew? What if they were older than him and already knew what he looked like? Did they find him attractive? Would he be able to find them based off image alone?

What if they were younger than him, and would have no idea who he was, even if he did find them? Maybe offering his own locket as proof would be enough, but still... There were too many thoughts and questions running through his head, too many worries and insecurities. He almost didn't notice the time passing, staring down at his locket without really seeing it, mind running rampant with all the  _what if_ s.

Only when the edge clicked open did he stop; scramble to pick up his phone and check the time. 11:14 PM. His birthday.  _This was it._  Carefully, as if he were ripping off a band-aid, Hinata reached for the edge, slipping his pinkie under the cool metal disk and lifting it upwards, breath held in anticipation.

Blue eyes—maybe the bluest he'd ever seen—were the first thing that greeted him. How did such a color exist? It was the color of a rainstorm; of the sea on a cloudy morning; of a steel-blue diamond.  _Beautiful_. And to make it even better, dark ebony locks framed them, as black as a starless night sky. How could someone be this beautiful? Hinata couldn't breathe; couldn't speak. All he could do was stare.

Sixteen years of waiting; sixteen long years of lingering anticipation. And it was worth it. More than he could've hoped for.  _Beautiful_. His eyes almost hurt from staring so intently as the thought repeated itself over and over again in his mind. _Beautiful beautiful beautiful beautiful._  And, not long after;  _I need to find you._

***  *  *  *  ***

Hinata searched in every way he knew how. He checked his school yearbook; showed the picture to everyone he knew, and even some he didn't, searching desperately for any sign, even the  _tiniest_  bit of news,  _anything_  that would lead Hinata to him.

He  _had_  to find him. He'd never felt so driven before. This was an insatiable whim; he  _had_  to. There was no hesitation whatsoever. But so far, he wasn't having very much luck. During the day, as soon as class had finished, he went out looking for him, exhausting every resource available to him. And at night, he lay awake until exhaustion drove him into the cold embrace of sleep, where his mind was wracked with dreams of those steely blue eyes.

Endless. An endless void. When would he find him? How long would he have to search? It was getting exhausting. He was so tired. Sometimes he just wanted to stop looking altogether. But then he would open the locket, look down at the picture again, and smile, his hope renewed.

Currently, he was taking a much-needed break from searching to eat lunch. It was a Saturday, so he was luckily off school. Izumi—who was aware of his daily excursions—had offered to help, but Hinata turned him down, not wanting to ruin his best friend's weekend by dragging him on a (most likely) fruitless search.

So here he was, sitting at a ramen shop, chowing down on a bowl of soba. It was pretty good, he had to admit. He'd never tried this place before, and it was definitely one of the better ones. How he hadn't found it after months of searching around in this particular area was a mystery to him, but oh well; he'd have to remember to come here from now on.

The stand was pretty empty, which was a bit surprising, considering how good the food was. The old man who was behind the counter was pretty nice, and since there were currently no other customers, he was casually reading a magazine, sipping some green tea. Hinata twirled some noodles around his chopsticks and stuck them in his mouth with a content sigh. So good...

"Oi, old man, I'm here!" Hinata, though slightly curious, didn't look up after hearing the voice, too immersed in his delicious soba. "Sorry for being late. Practice ran a bit longer than expected."

"That's alright, Tobio. There aren't many customers today, anyhow. It's almost lunch, so if you want, I'll make you some noodles, on the house."

The voice was filled with excitement. "Really? You  _never_  let me eat here."

"Eh. I'm feeling generous today."

Tuning out the rest of the conversation, Hinata slurped up the last of his noodles with a loud sigh. "Ah... so full..." He sat back and stretched his arms above his head with a yawn. He hadn't gotten much sleep the night before and was starting to feel the beginnings of fatigue. "Guess it's time to get back to work..."

He returned his attention to the old man and saw that he and the newcomer were bent over the fryer, backs to him. Hinata squinted at the back of the new boy's head. Something about his hair was oddly familiar, though he couldn't put his finger on exactly why that was. Hinata placed his hand against his locket and fidgeted with the chain absently, twisting it between his fingers before letting it fall back against his chest, deep in thought.

The old man seemed to realize he was lingering because he walked back over to him with a friendly smile. "Do you want a second bowl?"

"Oh, n-no!" Hinata laughed awkwardly, waving his hands uselessly. "Sorry, I just drifted off for a moment." He slid the bowl across the table. "It was very delicious!"

The man chuckled amusedly. "I'm glad you think so. Are you sure you don't want another bowl? You're pretty thin. You could use some extra bulk." He accentuated Hinata's slight, girly frame with a hand to bring the point home.

" _Grandpa_ ," the boy scolded from his place at the fryer, "don't talk that way to the customers! You'll scare off what little following you have left."

_Ah, so they're related,_  Hinata thought as the old man turned to glare at his grandson. "Hey, that's enough sass from you, Tobio. Cook this poor malnourished boy another bowl of soba before I rescind my kind offer of free lunch."

"I— Y-you really don't have to do that!" Hinata protested nervously. "I have to go soon anyway, so it's  _really_  not necessary for you to—"

"Nonsense," the old man cut him off with a raised hand. "My patrons are like my children, and  _I_  know what's best; you're getting another bowl of soba."

"Uh..." Hinata faltered. "Okay... I guess."

"Grandpa, you're coming on too strong again," the grandson said with an exasperated sigh, back still turned as he prepared Hinata's soba. "Mom always tells you that you're too much of a personality when you first meet someone, and yet you don't do a thing to tune it down. How do you have any following left at all?"

"Hey!" He glared harshly at the dark-haired boy, crossing his arms defiantly. "I'll have you know people find me very endearing, Tobio! You're the one that drives away all the customers. If you would smile once in a while, all the girls would flock here, but all you can do is scowl! Honestly, I don't know where you get it from."

Hinata watched the entire interaction with an amused smile. Was it always like this? He'd definitely have to hang around here more often. The boy ignored his grandfather's last comment and finished preparing Hinata's soba before finally turning around. If Hinata had any noodles left, he would've choked on them. His eyes felt like they were the size of saucers as he gaped open-mouthed at the boy in front of him.

"AH!" He jolted to his feet, pointing a wavering finger at the boy, unable to speak coherent words. "AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He'd recognize those eyes anywhere. The color of a rainstorm; of the sea on a cloudy morning; of a steel-blue diamond.  _Beautiful_. And here they were, after months of searching, staring right at him. Was he dreaming?

But no, he couldn't have been. Their gazes were firmly locked together, and the world seemed to be moving in slow motion. This was more real than anything he'd ever experienced; definitely no dream. The boy had dropped his soda, and the bowl cracked, spilling the noodles across the ground. Hinata's eyes traced the edges of his lips as he opened his mouth to speak. "It's you!"

"That's what  _I_  should be saying!" Hinata shouted back immediately, the world finally coming back into focus. He wanted to launch himself over the counter and grab him; make sure he was real and that he wouldn't escape him after all the time he'd spent searching. "I've been looking  _everywhere_  for you!"

"Oh, now that you mention it..." The old man scratched his cheek ponderingly. "You  _do_  look exactly like that picture in Tobio's locket... Huh." Both of them turned to look at him slowly. The boy—Tobio, as he kept being called—was quietly fuming. " _Grandpa_! You couldn't have told me a little  _sooner_?"

"Haha, sorry. Anyway, he's here now, right, Tobio?"

_Right. He's here now._  Hinata's fists clenched in excitement as a wide smile blossomed across his face. _I finally found him. I finally got to meet him._  He felt himself tear up and his lips trembled slightly. Finally.

Tobio looked distraught as he noticed Hinata's tears and waved his hands about helplessly. "U-uh, hey, are you okay? Why are you crying? You're— you're not hurt, are you? Oh gosh, there's glass everywhere, isn't there? Did a shard nick you?"

"No, no!" Hinata quickly wiped at his cheeks, meeting the beautiful blue eyes in front of him with a watery smile. "I'm just..." He laughed, closing his eyes as a grin encompassed his features. "I'm just  _really_  happy!"


	16. Listen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while since I updated ahhh~ Sorry about that guys. Here's day sixteen. We're getting close to twenty ^-^ Anyway, today's theme is; You can't speak until you meet your soulmate, and are amazed at the sound of both your own voice and theirs. Prepare for hella cuteness.

_Late, late, late, lateeee!_  Kageyama huffed as he sprinted towards his school, his bag flying behind him, bouncing against his back, and his breakfast clenched between his teeth, arms pumping to give him more speed. He had accidently slept through his alarm, causing him to sleep into nearly 8:00, and by the time he realized his mistake, he was already five minutes late.

Not only that, but he was practically dead on his feet having stayed up extremely late the previous night studying for a huge test he had coming up. Dark circles were heavily painted under his eyes, and his body coordination was awful, causing him to run into several things that morning, including his door and the edge of the kitchen table.

He had carelessly stuffed all of his things in his bag, and papers were spilling out, threatening to be caught by the breeze and blown away, far out of his reach. His shoes were loosely tied and seemed like the would fly off any minute with how fast he was going, and his clothes were wrinkled, and he was about 80% sure his shirt was on backward.

What a way to start the day. At least he wouldn't be  _too_  late. At the speed he was going, he would reach school in the next five minutes, making him only fifteen minutes late. Not too bad, even if he did get reprimanded for it. Life wasn't  _completely_  against him.

At least, he thought that...  _until_ the train came. _ARE YOU_ KIDDING _ME?!_

Slowing to a stop in front of the flashing crossroad-crossing sign, jogging in place so he wouldn't lose his stamina. Life really was 100% against him. This was ridiculous. Well, at least he had  _somewhat_  of an excuse as to why he was late... Maybe he wouldn't get detention if he told them he got stopped by the train. It wasn't like he could control the railroad schedule.

But still... Kageyama let out an annoyed breath and tugged a hand through his hair, coming to a complete stop, legs stilling. He glared at the train, as if it were at fault, and tapped his foot against the pavement with impatience. The train went by much slower than it should've; most likely because the station wasn't far away. This just worsened his sour mood.

Come on, come on, come on... he thought, foot still tapping out an anxious rhythm. Stupid... train... His thoughts trailed off as he squinted at something that had caught his eye; a flashing ad on the side of the train, one of those new ones on the mechanical screens. It was a pretty famous ad: Kageyama had glimpsed it out of the corner of his eye countless times, though he never really looked at it fully. In fact, this was probably his first time watching it all the way through.

It was for some sports drink that had become really popular lately, though Kageyama couldn't remember what it was called. All the girls at school had been babbling on and on incessantly about the actor. What was his name again? Hina... something or other. On the screen, the ad flashed to a picture of a spiking volleyball player, followed afterward by the same player standing by a bench, wiping sweat from his forehead as he reached for a drink, back turned to the camera.

As he picked up the bottle, he turned, and the camera locked on him, revealing a stunningly bright, smiling face, framed by a mop of curly orange hair. Kageyama's breath caught for a moment as he continued watching, the train seeming to slow even more as he focused on the ad. The unnamed boy held up the drink with a wide smile; the kind that made your nose crinkle and your eyes close. Kageyama had never seen a smile like that on TV, and so genuine, too.

Words flew across the screen in a bright white font. 'All the running and jumping around in volleyball can be very tiring, so I always remember to bring some Jump Score* to drink after a long game!' His facial expression was so genuine and enthusiastic, Kageyama  _himself_  was almost convinced. This boy was a good actor. And the longer he thought about it, Kageyama could remember seeing him in other ads, and even in TV shows and movies. What was his name again? It was bothering him that he couldn't remember.

The train had passed by now, sweeping the ad along with it, but it continued to play in Kageyama's head even after the images were long gone. Kageyama stood still, so deep in thought, he had forgotten completely about any previous engagements. His name was Hina... Hina  _something_.  _Is it... Hinami? No... Hinamori? No... Hinatama... Hina... Hina..._

With sudden clarity, Kageyama stamped his foot in a silent exclamation of victory and slammed his fist into his open palm forcefully.  _That's it!_ Hinata _!_  As soon as the name flashed through his mind, Kageyama's focus seemed to rush back into him all at once, and his gaze locked onto the nearest clock face, eyes widening as they caught sight of the time.  _Ah! I'm so late! They're gonna kill me!_

And he took off running again.

***  *  *  *  ***

_Alright, good work, Shōyō. That's a rap._

As the producer signed the words to him, Hinata slumped in relief and let out the yawn he'd been holding in, covering his mouth with his hand to feel the great exhalation of air. His manager was still chatting with the producers, so he wandered over to the snack table and snuck a few meat buns before creeping off to his dressing room to eat in peace.

He sprawled out on a comfortable chair and sat looking out the window, resting his chin in his palm when he had finished eating and dusted the crumbs from his hands. The sky was a bright beautiful blue, with a covering of fluffy white clouds: the ideal day to be outside. Maybe if he asked Ukai, he could squeeze in a free hour for him to take Natsu to the park, if his schedule wasn't too full.

Speaking of Ukai, there was a rustling at the door before the man himself entered, wearing an annoyed expression and carrying an iPad, which he tapped away at indignantly, no doubt replying to emails from his higher ups (which made him as mad as Hinata ever saw him). When he had presumably sent the email, he tossed the piece of technology roughly down on the table and collapsed into a chair, kicking off his shoes and massaging his forehead with a tense expression.

 _Those damn idiots_ , he signed with quick, jerky movements, reflecting the anger he felt. _Remind me why I work for them again._

Hinata giggled inwardly as he moved his fingers to sign back to him; _Because you're the best manager in Japan!_

Ukai shot him a look.  _Don't sweet-talk me, kid. My ego will be too big to handle._

 _Haha, you're funny!_  Hinata signed his laughter this time, struggling to hold back his bright smile and failing.  _Anyway, what's the next thing on my schedule? I wanted to take Natsu-chan to the park later! Can we fit it in?_

 _Ugh._  Ukai slumped lower in his chair.  _Kid, you're taking years off my life here._  Seeing Hinata's pouty look, he threw his head back and opened his mouth in a long, soundless sigh.  _Fine, fine, quit giving me the eyes. I'll make space for your stupid park visit, alright?_

 _Yay! Thanks!_  Hinata sprung up to retrieve his phone from the makeup table, long fingers already flying across the keys.  _I'll tell Natsu-chan!_

 _Idiot, I haven't even checked the schedule yet!_  Seeing that Hinata wasn't paying attention to him, instead smiling aimlessly to himself, immersed in his phone, Ukai slung an arm over his eyes with an inward groan of irritation.  _This kid will be the death of me..._

***  *  *  *  ***

_I can't believe I got off with no detention..._  Kageyama was slumped in relief as he walked home from school, feeling as if he'd avoided some great punishment, tricked fate, or cheated the gods.  _Maybe today is my lucky day after all. Though I_ did _get lectured..._  He tilted his head back with a grimace.  _I'm so tired I can barely walk straight... I need to sit down somewhere._

Eyes searching for a suitable resting place, Kageyama chose one in the nearby public park and collapsed into a bench there, hunching over with relief. The park was completely empty, as sun was already setting, and kids were already on their way to sleep or eating dinner with their families. A single pair was playing over by the swings, though he couldn't really make them out from this distance.

As they walked closer, traveling from the swings to the monkey bars, Kageyama's eyes narrowed at one in particular, whose features seemed oddly familiar to him, though in his dazed and tired state his brain wasn't really in the mood for remembering faces. But he really did look familiar...

The figures—a tall boy and a little girl, Kageyama had made out through the darkness—moved towards the main play structure, the boy wearing a bright smile that sparked another chord of remembrance in the back of Kageyama's brain. The little girl sprinted up the stairs happily and reached the top of the slide, sitting and sliding down easily. Almost as soon as her feet hit the ground she was running back up, even faster than before.

The pair were only a few feet from him now. Kageyama continued to stare at the boy, eyes narrowed in concentration, the gears in his mind turning and turning, trying to place the familiar face. The boy must've felt him staring, because as the girl raced back up to go down the slide once more, he turned, gaze locking with Kageyama's.

His eyes were the color of melted milk chocolate.  _Pretty_.

Kageyama's eyes flicked away in embarrassment, over the boy's shoulder to the slide. The girl had reached the top and with great gusto threw herself down the slide, but she must've used a bit too much strength because she swung right over the edge. Kageyama leaped to his feet, eyes widening. The boy's eyes followed his slowly, coming to the same realization that the girl would fall. But he wasn't going to reach her. He couldn't react fast enough.

With a great burst of strength, Kageyama made a mad dash for them, trusting his reflexes to catch the falling girl.

"Watch out!"

"Natsu-chan!"

Amazingly,  _inexplicably_ , the boy reacted, and they both reached her at the same time, bodies colliding, sending them sprawling. This, however uncomfortable it was, made a tangled net of soft limbs for the little girl to land on, which she did, bouncing painfully across Kageyama's forearm. He groaned, the sound loud and pained in his ears, and it took him a moment to realize what had just happened.

His hands scrabbled at the woodchips underneath him, struggling to gain purchase. They made a scuffing sound in his ears, and he could also hear heavy breathing; two different sets, one his and one the boy's. He could hear his breathing. He could hear this boy's breathing. He could  _hear_.  _He could hear this boy_.

Kageyama's struggles ceased and for a moment as he stared blankly down at the ground beneath his hands, letting the sound of his ragged breaths ring throughout his ears. His vision blurred the sight of the woodchips in front of him, and only when the first warm drop hit the back of his hand did he realize he was crying.

The boy's gasping was what brought him back to reality, and his head snapped up to lock onto him like a heat-seeking missile, watching his every move with sudden intensity. He was bent over at the waist, having righted himself, and was signing frantically to the small girl, who had a few tears in her confused eyes.  _Are you alright? You're not hurt, are you?!_

 _I'm fine, nii-chan_ , she signed back, tears clearing up as she smiled up at him. _Can I go again?_

The boy sighed, and the sound was new and amazing in Kageyama's ears.  _Go ahead_ , he signed carefully. But not the slide, okay? Go play on the monkey bars. The girl nodded with a cheerful smile and skipped off to the monkey bars, leaving them alone. The boy looked at him for the first time, chocolate eyes wary and uncertain. He raised his hands as if he wanted to sign something but then paused, hands wavering for a moment before he parted his lips experimentally. "H-h-hi..."

The word was broken-up and shaky, but the sound was still beautiful; the word that signaled the beginning of something he'd waited for his whole life. His words were unsteady and disjointed, and tears were racing down his cheeks, but this was still the most important thing Kageyama would ever say. "It's... nice to hear your voice."


	17. Missing Kiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 17, and today's theme is; You can't see color until you kiss your soulmate.

"Hey, Kageyama... Have you ever kissed anyone?"

Kageyama was so surprised, he missed the ball Suga had just set to him and instead smacked the net full-force, losing his balance and falling (very ungracefully) flat on his ass. "Ow..." He pushed himself up, glaring at Hinata and rubbing his back irritably. "Oi, dumbass Hinata, quit distracting me!"

"I was just asking a question!" Hinata protested, puffing out his cheeks in annoyance. "You don't have to yell!"

" _Tch_. It can wait until after practice," Kageyama told him, picking up another ball. As the boy turned away, muttering angrily to himself, Kageyama tried to focus on setting, but his mind kept repeating the question over and over again in his head until he could barely see two feet in front of him.

_Have you ever kissed anyone?_

***  *  *  *  ***

After practice, when the volleyballs and net had been put away, the floors swept, and the doors locked, the team gave brief farewells and went their separate ways. Kageyama was hoping Hinata had forgotten about his little question from earlier, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case. After bidding Suga and Daichi—the last two left—goodbye, the energetic boy bounded up beside him with his hands clasped behind his back and his usual dopey smile on his face, immediately annoying Kageyama. "So, about my question from earlier..."

The setter turned his head away, clicking his tongue in irritation. "What about it?"

"Well... I was just wondering, you know..." He paused as if Kageyama were supposed to supply the last part of the question, but he stayed silent and feigned ignorance, hoping the problem (read: Hinata) would just go away. It didn't, of course. "...if you've ever kissed anyone," Hinata finished in a whisper, like the subject of kissing were as taboo as drug dealing or murder.

Kageyama said nothing, contemplating the best way to answer. The truth: no, he'd never kissed anyone. But if he told Hinata this—and it really wasn't any of his business, anyway—he'd ask him why, and he didn't have an answer for  _that_  question. The other option was lying and saying 'yes', but that would end in Hinata demanding the full story with an acted-out performance and maybe some cinematography, which was no better than the first outcome.

 _Gah_ , why did he have to ask such stupid questions? Or  _any_  questions at all, for that matter? Couldn't they just stick to volleyball; silent, rhythmic, and effortless? He really wasn't in the mood for a game of Twenty Questions. But Hinata was watching him with wide, expectant eyes, waiting for a response, and if he said nothing, the boy would simply nag him until he either blew up in his face or gave in and answered the question. Might as well get it over with now.

"No," he muttered, sticking his hands in his pockets and slouching down low in his jacket. "No, I haven't kissed anyone."

Hinata was (surprisingly) silent, eyes studying the ground with the tiniest of frowns on his face. Kageyama watched him warily, waiting for the inevitable flood of questions, but it never came. The boy seemed utterly lost in thought, staring so fixedly at the ground, you'd think it held the cure to cancer.

Kageyama was a bit disturbed by the unnatural behavior and was debating on whether or not to see if he needed medical attention when Hinata's head sprang up like a jack-in-the-box, starling Kageyama so much he jumped about a foot in the air as the intense amber gaze settled on him. "Kageyama, I've been thinking."

"Uh..." Kageyama cleared his throat, settling his frazzled nerves and regaining a composed aura. "Yeah?" They were nearing Hinata's house, so whatever he had to say, he better make it quick.

Hinata, spurred on by the encouragement, started talking quickly. "Well, they say you're supposed to see colors when you kiss your soulmate, right?" He continued on without waiting for an answer from Kageyama. "Well, I was thinking; how are we supposed to find our soulmate if we never kiss anyone? But of course I'm not suggesting kissing  _every_  random stranger you meet, but still, if you never do it at all, how will you find them?"

"Hinata, I have no—"

"But anyway I started thinking and I realized I don't really  _want_  to kiss people all that much," Hinata continued, ignoring him entirely, seemingly caught up in his own hurried speech. "It would be pretty embarrassing and weird. But I also thought that maybe... maybe I might want to..." They were at Hinata's house now, and he had paused at the gate and was fiddling with the straps of his bag hesitantly.

"What?" Kageyama asked, growing impatient. He had to be home soon or his mother would flip.

Hinata stared fixedly at the ground. "Maybe... I might want to try it... just once," he muttered, quieter than quiet; so quiet it was almost drowned out by the faint whir of a passing car engine.

Kageyama's brain took a moment to piece together the barely audible words, and another to fully process them. He squinted at the shorter boy carefully. "And you're telling me this  _because_...?"

"Can we..." Hinata struggled to find the right words, appearing even more nervous and fidgety than usual. "Can we... maybe... try it? Just once?"

He squeezed his eyes shut, clearly prepared to be reprimanded, but Kageyama just stared at him in silent shock. Suddenly, he took full notice of the person standing in front of him and felt an odd stirring in his chest. Hinata looked almost scared, but still hopeful at the same time, eyes squeezed shut tightly, irises hidden away behind pale gray eyelids.  _What is this feeling?_

Kageyama was aware of a sensation against his fingers; he'd unknowingly moved his hand to cup Hinata's left cheek.  _What am I doing?_  He didn't answer the unspoken question, or the spoken one, for that matter: he didn't even try to speak. Hinata's eyes fluttered open but Kageyama was already leaning forward, his own eyes sliding closed. As their lips met, a single thought ran through his head:  _So this is what a kiss feels like?_

It was quick; barely a brushing of skin before Kageyama pulled away, eyes sliding open. He expected nothing; maybe an ounce of shock from Hinata (though  _he'd_  been the one to ask) and the same gray world he'd closed his eyes upon, but when they opened, the world blossomed into color in front of him. Blues, purples, pinks, and yellows burst in his sight as the setting sun painted the sky a beautiful mix of color. Green sprouted from the grass and exploded in the trees, and even the houses gained color; pale creams, lemon yellows, and robin's egg blues. In a nearby tree, a bird took flight, so bright a red Kageyama had to look away. The most breathtaking thing, though, was Hinata.

Orange hair; so vibrant and beautiful it rivaled the sunset. Eyes like pools of melted chocolate stared up at him, pale pink lips slightly parted with shock. And his skin wasn't gray, no; it was pale, the color of cream, and immensely beautiful. How one person could hold so much beauty amazed Kageyama, and the fact that it belonged to him was even  _more_  amazing.  _Mine. He's my soulmate._

They were still staring at each other; still touching, still in the aftermath of the kiss. Kageyama was suddenly very glad Hinata had bothered him with that previously insufferable question. He was glad he hadn't ignored him and gone home. He was glad he hadn't lied. He was glad about everything, especially that wild shock of violently orange hair and beautiful skin and amazing eyes.

He did the only thing he could think to do. He kissed him again.


	18. Ink Swirls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 18 of my soulmate AU challenge, and today's theme is; There's a tattoo somewhere on you that depicts what is most important to your soulmate. Could be a picture, name, or word(s). (Will change as different things become more important.)

Kageyama's tattoo was on the inside of his left wrist. It was a good location; he could see it easily and hadn't had to search before finding it as some who had tattoos in more obscure locations had to do: His mother's was on the back of her right knee, nearly impossible to find without someone telling her where to look.

The very first thing Kageyama's soulmate treasured most were his parents. The words 'Mommy and Daddy' were printed on his wrist in plain black letters, though they were surrounded by a swirl of lovely blues and greens, almost like a watercolor painting; very beautiful.

As his soulmate grew older, the tattoo gradually changed. 'Mommy and Daddy' remained for about 5 years before changing to (hilariously) 'Growing Taller', alerting Kageyama to the fact that his soulmate was vertically challenged. This only stuck around for a very short time, however, before it was replaced by the broad term 'Family'. This one was around for a year before a new one replaced it; 'Natsu'. Kageyama didn't know who this Natsu person was, but he became rather jealous of it (for reasons he couldn't quite understand) before it eventually changed to a satisfactory 'School'.

Kageyama's soulmate had very simple priorities in life. The tattoo's inked words cycled through mostly the same words over the years; 'Family', 'School', 'Grow Taller', 'Natsu', 'Friendship'. Kageyama grew anxious as he grew older, watching the endless changing flow of words. It was selfish of him, perhaps, but he wished beyond anything that his name would appear there one day; that they would find each other and become the most important things in each other's lives.

It was a silly dream, but he still wished for it with every blown-out birthday candle, every shooting star, every coin thrown in a wishing well, and every dandelion puff he blew throughout the years. Even though he had volleyball practice occupying most of his time and brain space, he still made time to throw another coin, pick another dandelion, and wait for another shooting star. He wished and wished and waited and waited for his soulmate to find him, but it was a long time waiting.

Eventually, Kageyama made more time for volleyball and less time for wishing, and thoughts of his soulmate grew dim and insignificant as he worked hard both at practice and at school. His eyes would still stray to that beautiful tattoo every now and then. When Kageyama was in middle-school, it changed from its previous status of 'School' to 'Volleyball', which greatly surprised him.

He focused more on his wrist, excited by the new development, but it remained 'Volleyball' steadily throughout that year. He eventually had to turn his attention away from it as a competition was coming up very soon and training became more frequent and much tougher. His sole goal became surviving the grueling practices and perfecting his serves. They were getting better and better, but his teammates were having trouble keeping up.

Eventually, the competition arrived, and as Kageyama boarded the bus that would deliver him and his team to the gym where the competition was taking place, he was startled to see the word on his wrist change from 'Volleyball' to 'Win'. Win what, he wondered? He pondered it the whole way there, head resting against the warm glass of the window, eyes fixed straight ahead.

Even as they arrived and started walking in, he still wondered. He wasn't sure why it was bothering so much; he really should've been focusing on the upcoming match. It was more important. With difficulty, Kageyama squared off the thoughts and focused wholly on the obstacle in front of him.

***  *  *  *  ***

He first encountered Hinata Shōyō in the hallway outside the bathrooms. He was less than impressive, to say the least. Yet Kageyama found him oddly intriguing. How someone who appeared so small and weak could hold so much optimism and confidence riled him. He may have said some rude things to the boy in his out-of-place state. He was sure they argued before Kageyama ended up storming off, back to the court.

Though it was a bit conceited of him, his main focus became beating that little shrimp, no matter the cost. He was sure this was reflected loud and clear on his far-away soulmate. As he took to the court and his team began warming up, his eyes were drawn back to that short ball of fiery energy, and he found a spot that he focused on in particular; his neck. There was a tattoo there. He squinted through the net, trying to make out what it said. No use. He'd have to wait to get closer. Maybe when they lined up by the net to shake hands he could make it out.

As the whistle blew, signaling the start of the game, Kageyama's eyes were locked on that spot, curiosity overshadowing anything else he could've been thinking about. When they lined up along the net, Kageyama made sure to stand in front of Hinata, and his eyes zeroed in on the tattoo as their palms connected. 'Beat Hinata'.

He froze.  _Beat Hinata. Beat Hinata, beat Hinata, beat Hinata._  His thoughts; reflected on a pale sliver of exposed neck on a shrimpy ginger volleyball player and the object of his determination for victory. He was still clasping his hand, muscles locked from the sudden shock, eyes glued to the two simple words.

Hinata was saying something, but he stopped when he caught sight of Kageyama's wrist. Hearing the gasp, Kageyama himself dragged his gaze downward and saw the words 'Beat Kageyama' in clear black ink against his skin, brandished boldly for anyone to see. 

_Well, this is bad._


	19. The Distance Between Us

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 19 of my soulmate AU challenge, and today's theme is; Your soulmate's name is tattooed on your dominant wrist, and it changes color depending on how close you are; shades of blue = farther away while shades of red = closer; when you meet/touch for the first time, it turns completely red and stays that way.

The Chinese believe in a 'red thread of fate', linking a single person with everyone in their life that means something to them. There's another variation that states the red thread is tied around the pinky, linking an individual to their soulmate. The color red symbolizes love itself; red is a lucky color.

In Kageyama's case, red was a wish. There was no red thread, but instead a tattoo that tied him to his soulmate. And it wasn't red; it was blue. A light blue verging on purple, outlining a name; Shōyō. It meant 'flying heaven', and Kageyama pictured a bird tearing through the air. What was that person like, he wondered?

Shōyō. It was a pretty name. Kageyama wanted to put a face to it. He wanted the name to be the red of love; of destiny. But the distance between them was still too great. When would it disappear?

***  *  *  *  ***

"Kageyama, the bell rang."

"Huh?" Kageyama blinked, raising his head off his hand as he was yanked roughly back into reality.

The class representative stood in front of him, staring at him with a concerned frown. "Did you fall asleep?"

"No." Grabbing his bag, Kageyama pushed past the class rep with no further comment or explanation and started walking. It was nearing winter and a chill hung in the air like an unshakable fog. As he exited the school building, the chill hit him and he hunkered down in his jacket, watching his breath frost out in front of him, mind quickly drifting.

Snow began to fall. Kageyama wasn't sure how long he walked for, or even if he was going in the right direction, but it didn't really seem to matter. Wandering like this was nice. No place to be, nothing to do but be alone. It was peaceful, with the snow falling in gentle flurries and the dull whir of cars passing by. His limbs were slightly numb, but it wasn't necessarily unpleasant.

But the sun was setting, and with it went the warmth. The chill seeped through his coat and into his skin like water, causing Kageyama to shiver. His eyes roamed the street, alighting on a warmly lit cafe and pausing for a moment. He contemplated it for about half a second before turning in that direction and quickening his pace.

A bell went off above the door as he entered, and a breath of warm air hit him as a heater blasted him from above. The smell of freshly baked pastries and coffee filled his nose. He inhaled deeply and felt a warmth fill him and he sagged in relief, joining the line of people waiting for their orders to be taken and studying the menu. His hands were beginning to warm in his pockets, and he removed them, pinching the fingers of his gloves in preparation to take them off.

As he slid his wrist out, he paused. The line moved up. He stared at his tattoo. Orange.  _What?_  Kageyama heard his heartbeat in his ears and the surroundings disappeared for a moment.  _When did that happen?_ How _did it happen?_  It seemed impossible. How far did he travel? Or did his soulmate just arrive? When had it changed?

Someone nudged him from behind and Kageyama shuffled forward, still staring at his wrist.

"Hey."

When did the color change? When was the last time he checked? Had it changed just then or a while ago?

"Um... excuse me..."

Kageyama wasn't even really  _seeing_  anymore, so caught up in his thoughts. He nearly had a heart attack when something waved in front of his face, startling him so much that he jumped. "I said _hey_!"

His eyes focused on his tattoo: the color nearly blinded him. Red. The red of fate and love; the red of his destiny. His eyes shot up to the person in front of him; a person who was wearing a name-tag. 'Shōyō'.  _Shōyō_. The name glared at him from his wrist while the owner beamed. "Oh, thank goodness you're okay! I thought you were having a seizure or something..."

Kageyama reached out and grabbed his wrist, raising it to eye-level and ignoring the surprised exclamation of the mystery boy. A red name stared up at him; Tobio. "Hey! What are you doing—"

Releasing his wrist, Kageyama raised his own arm and shoved it in the boy's face: the only way he could think of to shut him up. Their red names stood glaringly bright next to each other. The boy's obvious astonishment left time to study him. He had a shock of violently orange hair and eyes the color of melted chocolate. Beautiful, just like his name.

Kageyama decided to test it out, just once. "You're Shōyō." It tasted good on his tongue and sounded perfect. He could definitely get used to saying it.

_Shōyō... So, the distance between us is finally gone._

**Author's Note:**

> Short and kind of all over but it was the first try. Anyway, feel free to let me known comments, corrections, and suggestions down in the review section, and please follow and favorite if you enjoyed the story and want more. Anyway, until next time ;) Ciao~


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